My name is Silvana. I am 41 and I teach italian cooking in the home of my clients.

I was born and grew up in Napoli, in a family where genuine food was fundamental. My mum was a homemaker, so she would cook for us every day, and she would spend most of her sundays morning making pasta and gnocchi for us to enjoy. My father (an artist and painter) was a food purist, he wanted to eat classic and simple food, the kind he grew up with.

This week we are starting with something simple but full of flavour: pasta with garlic and oil. The simplest seasoning for pasta - it comes straight from the poorest peasants’ tradition, who had very little ingredients to create a meal: olive oil, garlic and chilli.

Here I propose my father’s version of this very old dish, a little richer and incredibly tasty, with anchovies, capers, olives and parsley. It takes 10 minutes to prepare, so it is a great choice for a last minute meal.

Ingredients for 4 portions:

  • 350gr of spaghetti
  • 5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 fresh red chilli
  • 8 anchovies fillets
  • 2 tbsp of capers
  • 16 black olives
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley

1. Fill a large pot with salted water (1 tsp of salt for every liter of water) and bring to boil. When the water boils, add the spaghetti and let them cook according to the pack instructions.

2. Pour the oil in a large pan heat it gently on low heat. Meanwhile, wash the chilli and remove all the seeds, then chop it finely together with the garlic. Add them to the oil and sauté for one minute, stirring occasionally.

3. Roughly chop the capers and the anchovies, stone and slice the olives and add them to the pan. Let cook for three minutes stirring frequently, until the anchovies start to melt. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

4. Finely chop the parsley. When the pasta is two minutes away from the recommended cooking time, drain it, saving a little cooking water. Add the pasta to the pan, with 100ml of the saved liquid and a tablespoon of chopped parsley. Return it to high heat and sauté the spaghetti for two minutes, stirring continuously, until all the water has evaporated.

5. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the remaining parsley.

Recommended wine: Sauvignon Blanc or Trebbiano d’Abruzzo.

Trying the recipe at home? Tweet a photo of your finished dish to @getwestlondon and we'll display a selection here.

Silvana in her kitchen
Silvana in her kitchen