Puttanesca is an Italian adjective that describes those ladies who ply the world's oldest profession. Most often, it refers to a pasta sauce made with a lusty combination of tomatoes, garlic, anchovies, olives, and capers. As the story goes, the sauce could easily and quickly be made with ingredients kept in a pantry.

Here it is a sauce for sausages, which make a meal when paired with plain white rice or mashed potatoes. Slice the sausages and return them to the sauce and they make a fine topping for pasta.

1. Poke the sausage links all over with a fork. Heat the oil in medium skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the sausages, turning as necessary, until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. (Some types of sausages may not be fully cooked at this point, they will finish in the sauce).

2. If necessary pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from the pan. Add the garlic and anchovies and cook, mashing the anchovies with a fork, until he garlic is lightly browned and the anchovies dissolve, about 2 minutes. Add the olives and capers and cook a minute or two.

3. Increase the heat to high, pour in the wine, and boil until almost completely evaporated. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Tuck the sausages into the sauce, adjust the heat so the sausage is simmering, and cover. Cook turning the sausages once or twice, 10 minutes. Check the seasoning. Because of the olives, anchovies, and capers, you most likely won't have to add salt. But a little freshly ground pepper would be nice. Sprinkle the parsley over the sausages and serve them hot, spooning some of the sauce over each serving.

Variation:
Remove the pan from the heat. Cut the sausages into 1/2-inch lengths and return them tot he sauce. Makes enough to sauce 8 ounces (half a package) of a chunky pasta shape such as rigatoni, radiatore, or large shells, which makes 2 very generous portions or 4 regular portions.