What’s for dinner?

A question I get asked all the time – by friends, family, my husband, my kids…and lucky for them, it’s a question I love to answer. As wife and mom of two adorably crazy kids, I understand how important it is for moms to find something purely for themselves; something they enjoy that gives a sense of calm and control – a happy place. For me, other than the massage chair at the nail salon, my happy place is in the kitchen. I love to cook. I love finding new recipes and making them my own. I consider getting my kids to try new foods one of the greatest #momwins of them all, and having my husband sit down to a delicious and well put together dinner plate each night is something I take pride in.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional chef. I have never been to cooking school, unless you count the one week in Tuscany with my mom where we spent more time drinking and eating than actually cooking. I can’t even say that I spent hours in the kitchen when I was growing up, learning recipes passed down from my grandmother to my mother.  My mom has a few staples that she has perfected — she can make a mean brisket or potted chicken — and lately has tried experimenting with some new recipes, like stout braised short ribs – but neither she nor my grandmother ever expressed a love of cooking. My mom likes to say that my passion for cooking must be a recessive gene as she can’t think of anyone in our family who enjoys spending time in the kitchen and feels as comfortable and confident as I do when I am there. What I did get from my mom is her love of entertaining. Putting together a well-orchestrated cocktail party or dinner party menu is one of my favorite activities.

Since moving to the suburbs, having kids and settling into life outside the city where you can spend more time in your car than anywhere else, I have really felt the need to take my passion for food and cooking and to the next level; and that begins with sharing my passion with you. And thus, It’s Delizious was born. I want to document my recipes, share my tips, answer questions, and also learn. This blog is for me to share with you but also for me to hear from you about what you want to see, what you are doing; your tips and tricks. I am not a professional, and I don’t pretend to be. I am just like most of you – I am a mom who loves to cook, eat, plan, and organize. I do have a 5 year plan to become a professional. A real chef. A culinary school graduate. This is the goal, the dream for me. But for now, I am just a mom with a passion for cooking and taking pictures of the food I cook to share with you.

And so on that note, here goes: my first recipe to share with all of you. And it is absolutely one of my all time favorites. This is one dish that I do actually attribute to my mom – Pasta Puttanesca.

When I was little, there was a small family owned Italian restaurant in town called Senora Bella. Whenever my parents told us we were going to Senora Bella for dinner, I immediately got excited for the large bowl of Pasta Puttanesca I would order — grown up sized, never the kids portion. My Mom and I shared this love, and it led her to try her hand at making this as home. She found a recipe, made a few changes, and boom — my favorite pasta sauce was created.

The combination of the sweet tomatoes, salty olives, briny capers and spicy red pepper flakes creates the perfect bite. However, I strongly believe the key to this recipe is the anchovies. Yes, the anchovies. I know many of you just said “anchovies? yuck!” but you are wrong. I am willing to bet that there are anchovies in a lot of dishes you order at restaurants and you don’t even know it. The flavor cannot be replaced, yet you wouldn’t even know they were there if someone didn’t tell you. They melt into the olive oil and disappear, never to be seen again — only tasted. Just trust me on this one – do not skip the anchovies!

After the anchovies melt into the olive oil and you start to smell the garlic aroma, add the capers and red pepper flakes for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. This just gives them a quick flash fry to shock them into releasing their oils and flavors into the sauce. Be careful, if the capers still have some brine on them they might cause the oil to pop up.

Now add the tomatoes and olives. Mash the tomatoes a bit so they begin to release their juices. Bring the whole mixture up to a simmer, lower the heat and let it go, uncovered, for an hour, stirring occasionally.