Beef and Puttanesca sauce is one of those traditional, wholesome and very tasty Italian dishes you can throw together chop-chop and serve as a delightfully casual meal for friends and family and it’s also a perfect meal for more formal dinner parties.

As with all Italian dishes there are many different ways of making this sauce, but in essence it’s a flavoursome combination of tomato, beef and herbs of your choice, plus a handful of chopped green olives.

What makes it so right for entertaining is the fact that you can make it in advance so all you have to do is to warm it through and cook the pasta, all in about 15 minutes.

Opinions vary from region to region in Italy as to which pasta is the tastiest and the best to serve with this sauce and I’ve tried most of them, but somehow I always drift back to good old spaghetti or tagliatelli.

To serve four generous portions you need:

Ingredients

500g of pasta, cooked according to the instructions on the packet (only do this once the sauce has been done — remember the Italian chef’s advice: “You wait for pasta, pasta doesn’t wait for you...”)

1 can of chopped tomatoes (or, if you prefer, four finely chopped whole fresh tomatoes)

1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

500g beef fillet, sliced into strips

1-2 fresh red or green chillies, seeded and finely chopped

2 teaspoons dried or finely chopped fresh oreganum

12 green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon brandy or sherry

1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large, deep frying pan and over medium heat fry the onion for about six minutes

Turn up the heat and fry the beef strips and garlic for two minutes

Reduce the heat and add the tomatoes, chillies, oreganum, salt, pepper and tablespoon of brandy or sherry

Simmer gently for about 12 minutes uncovered

Then put the lid back on and turn off the heat

Cook the pasta, drain well

Divide the pasta between four warmed, deep pasta bowls, top with the sauce, sprinkle lightly with a little grated Parmesan and serve immediately.

Recommended wine

Mike of Wine Concepts recommends Wildekrans Pinotage 2007 — Walker Bay — R 70.00

With dark plum hues, this wine has a delightful silky texture which is complemented by flavours of red berries and spice that linger on the palate.

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