Eggs in Puttanesca Sauce With Angel Hair Pasta

Serves 4.

From "Egg," by Michael Ruhlman.

• 1 Spanish onion, cut into small dice

• 4 garlic cloves, smashed with flat side of knife and roughly chopped

• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste

• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

• 1 c. dry red wine

• 1 (28-oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes, puréed, or 10 fresh Roma tomatoes, broiled for 15 minutes and puréed

• 1 bay leaf or 2 tsp. dried oregano (or both)

• 1/2 tbsp. fish sauce or 4 anchovies, roughly chopped

• 1/2 c. pitted, chopped kalamata olives

• 2 tbsp. capers

• 4 eggs

• 1 lb. angel hair pasta or thin spaghetti, cooked al dente and tossed with extra-virgin olive oil or butter, kept warm in a covered pot

Directions

In a large sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil, adding the salt as you do. Stir until the onion and garlic are tender and translucent, then add the red pepper flakes and stir to cook them and coat them with the oil.

Add the wine and bring it to a simmer. Add the puréed tomatoes, the bay leaf and/or oregano, and bring it back to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cook the sauce until it's nice and thick, about 1 hour. The sauce can be prepared in advance up to this point, allowed to cool and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Remove and discard the bay leaf and add the fish sauce (or anchovies), olives and capers. If the sauce was refrigerated, bring it to a full simmer over medium heat, then turn the heat to low.

Lower each egg (out of the shell) into the sauce with a ladle, making a small well in the sauce with the ladle to contain it. Cover the pan and cook the eggs until the whites are set, 3 to 6 minutes.

Divide the warm pasta among the individual plates. Spoon the sauce over the pasta, topping each portion with an egg and finishing each dish with more sauce as needed. Serve immediately.