Puttanesca was Invented to Steal Your Man

You ever open the fridge and be like “there’s nothing to eat” only to throw together a pasta with olives, garlic, chili flakes and it’s lowkey fire?

That’s cucina povera. It means “poor cooking” in Italian, but it’s anything but. It’s a humble and smart way to cook. Using what you’ve got, what you grow, what your neighbour grew. You can make a dish feel rich with just a few simple things when you give time for a tomato to ripen or an anchovy to melt in the pan.

JOIN FOR NOODS

Farm-to-Table is Not “Cool”

That’s why I like farm-to-table, it’s not a buzzword, it reminds me I’m part of the food cycle. When you know the effort behind growing a tomato, you care more, you use them differently and you can taste that. 

Buying local isn’t just responsible, it’s real. It’s how people have always done it. You eat what’s around. You trade with friends. You get creative.

You’re Doing Too Much

The most iconic pasta dishes use with 3-4 ingredients. No fluff, all flavour:

Spaghetti aglio e olio (garlic, olive oil, chili). All’arrabbiata (garlic, chili, tomato).
Pasta alla gricia (guanciale, pecorino, black pepper). Pasta e ceci (pasta, chickpeas).
And my girl, pasta alla puttanesca (olives, capers, anchovy, tomato).

Povera Not Broke

I started cooking this way before I even knew what to call it. I was 17, living in my first apartment. My grocery list was short, but I still made it work. When I started cooking in kitchens and saw shoebox of herb stems and bruised veg hit the trash. Stuff that could’ve been great if someone had cared enough to use it. That stuck with me, and it became part of how I move. 

Cucina povera values intention. It’s low-waste, seasonal by default, and all about stretching what you’ve got. Now I save scraps. I give ingredients time. I plan less and freestyle more. Because simple isn’t boring, quite the opposite if you ask me.

The Sauce That Seduced These Mans

Dropping both versions of puttanesca, classic and fresca, because cherry tomatoes are at their juiciest right now.

Side note: “puttanesca” comes from puttana, word on the streets is that sex workers would simmer the sauce to lure customers in and feed them after, you know what.

Neapolitans ride for long noodles only, but in Lazio they’ll do spaghetti or penne. Either way, it’s salty, punchy, and very much that girl of the pantry pasta world.

That’s the beauty of cucina povera. It doesn’t ask for much, but it gives a lot.

Em

BEHIND THE PASTA

Recipe cards below for my paid subs.