“In normal life, ‘simplicity’ is synonymous with ‘easy to do,’” Bill Buford wrote in Heat, his 2006 book, “but when a chef uses the word, it means ‘take a lifetime to learn.’” That’s true much of the time. But if you take care, a dish as simple as pasta with finely chopped black olives and anchovies can have a chef-like impact with minimum learning and minimum fuss. This dish resets your taste buds. No fancy shopping needed.

Puttanesca Pasta Nada
Ingredients:
• Pasta
• Salt
• Any combination of anchovies, capers, tuna, black olives, garlic and tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• Any combination of fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley, sage or oregano
• Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:
Cook pasta in salted water to make a lo-fi variation on the theme of puttanesca. Instead of employing each of the classic ingredients above, try just, let’s say, black olives and anchovies. Or, use just finely minced garlic and a few capers. Or good canned tuna and tomatoes. These flavors cry out to be tested in variations.

Heat the ingredients of your choice in olive oil and toss in the cooked pasta with some of its cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper and top with herbs and Parmesan.
Total time: 30 minutes, makes as many servings as you want.

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