Linguine alla putanesca (Italian)

This is such a classical pasta dish you probably already know it. But just in case you don't, let's talk about its history a little. The name means.. well, basically "whore's pasta" :)). Apparently the Italian ladies of the night had some restrictions on going to the marketplace in broad daylight, so pasta made with not-so-fresh ingredients (from the can) was a easier (and cheaper) way to feed their clients. The name could also come from the salty and robust taste of the dish, say some culinary historians. Anyway, they're pretty delicious and very laziness-friendly. You can just throw it together with whatever stuff you have lying around in the pantry when you don't feel like going out of the house to shop. 
Here we made the classical take on it, with the only mention that we used herring instead of anchovies (we don't really like them). Enjoy your naughty pasta :)


Last year: Red pepper and pesto pasta with smoked salmon and Fig salad with feta, rucola and cherry tomatoes. 




Ingredients (serves 2):

• 250 g linguine
• 1 small can of herring in tomato sauce (200 g whole, 120 g fish content)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 100 ml tomato sauce from the can
• a handful of champignons from the can
• a handful of black olives from the can
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon capers
• red pepper flakes to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
• dried basil and thyme to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon each)
• salt and pepper to taste (careful, there's enough salt in the other ingredients already)

Boil the linguine according to package instructions:

Chop up the mushrooms, olives and open the fish can.

When the pasta is boiled, drain it and add the tomato sauce to it. Let it heat a bit more, mixing well. 

After a couple of minutes turn off the heat and add all the rest of the stuff on top of it. Mix well to coat everything and it's done.