Lily Bart and Pasta Puttanesca

"In Edith Wharton's 1905 novel, The House of Mirth, the tragic Lily Bart examines what remains of her wardrobe as she descends from New York high society into the social and economic abyss.  From wearing beautiful frocks, she's reduced to learning a trade, millinery, at which she is not adept, and is, anyway, only a small remove from prostitution."

Imagine my shock when I read this paragraph in the book The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant.  I had to stop reading and contemplate this comment.  First of all the use of "is" instead of "was" makes me take it a little personally.  It sounds like we milliners are almost prostitutes.  It is surprising that no one during the editing process caught the implication.  And after finally finishing the book I am convinced that Miss Grant is not a hat person.  Secondly, in 1905, millinery was a trade which was definitely middle class but there were some very respectable young women learning to be milliners.  You could also say that any job at the time was a step away from selling yourself if you were forced to make your own way.

So if I stop being a milliner I guess I might be reduced to prostitution?  If so I am certainly making puttanesca, the sauce of the whores.  This is my version with red bell peppers as a substitute for tomatoes.

Pasta Puttanesca

Serves 4 prostitutes

3 tbs. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
6 anchovy fillets
1 tbs. capers
2 tbs. chopped black olives
1 tbs. chopped oregano or sweet marjoram
2 red bell peppers, chopped, sautéd in olive oil until tender, then pureed.
1 lb. gluten free pasta
Freshly grated Parmagiano-Reggiano

Cook the pasta in gently boiling, salted water with a little oil added to it.  Stir a couple of times, taste after 7 minutes, do not overcook!  Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drizzle the pasta with a little olive oil and mix to keep it from sticking together. 


Sauté the garlic in the olive oil, add the anchovies and cook until they are melted.  Add the capers, olives, oregano, pureed pepper sauce, and reserved pasta water.  Cook together for a few minutes, until flavors have melded.

Add the pasta to the sauce, serve with a sprinkling of Parmagiano-Reggiano.


This pasta puttanesca is what the prostitutes would eat in the morning after working all night.  We are just having it for dinner, I plan on keeping my day job.


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