Wild “Spaghetti alla Puttanesca”

You might have noticed a hiatus in my blog posting over the last few months. Without going into too much detail at this point, my body wasn’t taking no for an answer and the enforced rest was pretty much mandatory for a while! The good news is that I’m in full health, there is nothing to worry about, and I’m delighted to be back foraging, playing with new recipes, and making the most of this beautiful spring.

I love a slow, intricate recipe every now and then, taking time over every element in the kitchen and experimenting etc, but I just haven’t been in a position to do that lately. Quick, tasty recipes that can be put together without standing for too long at the stovetop have been keeping me going and this wild spaghetti sauce inspired by the delicious Italian Spaghetti alla Puttanesca has become a firm favourite. It is so full of umami and flavour from some simple, nutritious wild ingredients that I’ve preserved over the seasons and were therefore at my fingertips without having to do too much preparation. If you don’t have the same ingredients to hand, don’t worry – I will give alternatives in the recipe below that are actually much closer to an authentic Italian Puttanesca!

For each of the typical puttanesca ingredients of anchovies, olives, capers, and garlic, I’ve tried to make a replacement that echoes the flavour of the original but of course the result has its own unique character:

• Laver (nori) seaweed instead of anchovies: I’m not going to lie – I often use anchovies as well because I just love their flavour once it infuses with the olive oil in the pan. However, laver seaweed (related to Japanese nori seaweed) is a great alternative source of umami and is also full of great nutritional benefits as it contains packs of iodine, iron, and a host of vitamins too. Once gathered it’s best to toast it by brushing over a bit of oil and drying it out under a low grill. You can also dehydrate it in order to store it, and then toast it when you’re ready to use it in a recipe. Of course you can use nori sheets as an alternative if you don’t have laver seaweed as they are fairly widely available in supermarkets these days.
• Pickled wild garlic seeds instead of olives and capers: Once wild garlic has flowered, it produces little green bead-like seeds that have a lovely crunch and a real kick of garlic flavour. I follow this Wild Garlic Seed Capers recipe from The Salt Box which I love and they last really well in the fridge. You get all of the salt, sweetness, acidity, and funkiness of olives and capers from the pre-salting of the seeds and the vinegar they’re pickled in. It’s still a bit early in the season for these, but I’m trying to use up the jar I made last year (it has lasted all this time because you really don’t need to add many to a dish to get a huge hit their distinctive flavour).
• Wild garlic leaves instead of garlic cloves: I always have plenty of wild garlic in the freezer to cook with throughout the year. For this sauce I used wild garlic preserved in olive oil – see this post for more information about how I preserve wild garlic. Wild garlic is now in season too which makes this recipe perfect for the spring season – you just have to remember to add the chopped leaves to the sauce a bit later in cooking rather than at the beginning so that the flavour isn’t cooked off.