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Puttanesca Fried Rice

30 minutes prep + cooked rice
20 minutes active cooking
50 minutes total

Makes 4 - 6 servings
Print recipe

When I cook rice, I make enough to have leftovers for fried rice the next day.

My friend Tommy Habetz, owner and chef at Portland’s Pizza Jerk, introduced me to Italian fried rice. It’s a simple but brilliant concept: use the classic approach to fried rice but flavor it like Italian pasta.

Puttanesca is a southern Italian tomato sauce with the bold flavors of anchovies, garlic, capers, and olives. Soften chopped garlic in olive oil, stir in some anchovies until they melt away, add the capers and olive, and finish with crushed tomatoes. Fry some leftover rice in olive oil and add the sauce. 

What you'll need

Ingredients

For the shopping list

2 cloves of

Garlic

Several

Anchovy Fillets

To serve

Parsley

1/2 cup of

Oil Cured Olives

From our shop

$6 - San Joaquin Valley - California

$17 - Pantelleria - Sicily

Capers in Sea Salt

$25 - Sicily - Italy

Madre Terra

$7 - Yolo Valley - California

Crushed Tomatoes
Out of stock
To taste Italian Fine Sea Salt

$7 - Trapani - Sicily

Italian Fine Sea Salt
optional

$10 - Kahramanmaras - Turkey

Silk Chili

Equipment

From the kitchen

1

Chef Knife

1

Cutting Board

1

Heavy Skillet

1

Stock Pot or Rice Cooker

Measuring Spoons

Measuring Cups

What you'll have to do

Step 1

The best rice for frying is left over from the day before. As cooked rice cools, the starches undergo a physical change called retrogradation that makes the rice more firm and less sticky. If you don’t have leftovers already, cook some Koda Farms Kokuho Rose rice the day before you make the fried rice. You want about 3 cups of cooked rice.

Step 2

Soak a couple of tablespoons of Pantellerian salt-packed capers in cold water for about 15 minutes, then drain.

Step 3

Squeeze the pits from about a half cup of oil-cured olives and chop coarsely.

Step 4

Chop a few cloves of garlic and a several anchovy filets and cook them gently in a tablespoon of olive oil; don’t let the garlic get brown, just soft. Add the capers to the garlic and anchovies.

Step 5

Add half of the can of tomatoes (transfer the rest to a container and freeze or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days). Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes, then set aside.

Step 6

Let the leftover rice come to room temperature and break up any clumps. Pour about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil to cover the bottom of a heavy 10-12 inch skillet, get it hot enough to shimmer, and add the rice. Stir fry for a few minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan as needed, until all the grains are coated with oil and starting to brown slightly.

Step 7

Stir in the sauce, which will be salty from the olives and capers, and taste the rice, adding more salt if needed. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with chopped parsley; serve with Burlap and Barrel silk chili for a little extra heat.

Shop this recipe

Rice & Grains

Kokuho Rose Heirloom White Rice

Koda FarmsSan Joaquin Valley - California
$6
Crushed Tomatoes
Pasta & Tomatoes

Crushed Tomatoes

Bianco di NapoliYolo Valley - California
$7
Capers in Sea Salt
Capers, Pickles, & Peppers

Capers in Sea Salt

Bonomo and GiglioPantelleria - Sicily
$17
Silk Chili
Salt, Herbs, & Spices

Silk Chili

Burlap & BarrelKahramanmaras - Turkey
$10
Madre Terra
Olive Oil

Madre Terra

Madre TerraSicily - Italy
$25
Out of stock
Italian Fine Sea Salt
Salt, Herbs, & Spices

Italian Fine Sea Salt

Gucciardo VincenzoTrapani - Sicily
$7

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