Britain’s celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, is going to be cooking for the G-20 Economic Summit in the UK next week.

I thought, therefore, it might be fitting to share one my favorite recipes of his with you. My family has always loved Pasta Puttanesca which is loosely translated to “street walker’s pasta” as it is a mish mash of on hand ingredients.

Pasta Puttanesca

1 package spaghetti
2 cloves garlic
1 handful of drained capers
2 handfuls pitted black olives
12 anchovy filets chopped
3 red dried chilies crumbled
1 tbsp. oregano
olive oil
tomato sauce
fresh basil
salt and pepper
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The Joy of Cooking

For me, not so much. I don’t mind cooking and when we were in Canada I did a great many elegant dinner parties for clients with little or no help quite successfully. I loved “The Joy of Cooking”, Julia Child and Elizabeth David.

At that time we had a Filipino nanny for the children who had worked in Hong Kong for 4 years prior to coming to Canada and she was a fantastic cook who made a wonderful Peking Duck among many other savory and delicious dishes. We were running our own business and I did not have to cook for 7 and a half splendid years.

I started cooking again when we moved to Ajijic, Lake Chapala and my husband decided to go back to work here. I had to cook almost every day and as I said I didn’t mind the cooking – what I did mind was trying to come with what to cook. I was never the type to go online to find wonderful recipes and my repertoire was rather limited. This was also because, for the most part, I was cooking for the kids. (more…)