One consolation prize of being the only one home and cooking dinner for just myself is I can make one of my favs that no one else in my household likes: pasta puttanesca. A working-class recipe from Italy, “puttanesca” is an adjective derived from the word “prostitute.” It’s a lively, intensely flavored dish made with tomatoes, garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, and chili pepper flakes. I love the saltiness of cured olives and tang of pickled capers, the pungent umami of anchovies. Serve with a long pasta—linguine or thin spaghetti. But then I make too much and have to eat it for three days and the thrill is gone.
