Pasta Puttanesca

Pasta puttanesca is an Italian tomato based pasta dish fully loaded with capers, black olives, garlic, anchovies and parsley.  This recipe originated in Naples which is also called  “spaghetti alla puttanesca” . Do not think this recipe as any other tomato-based Italian dish, the puttanesca sauce is very vibrant and super flavorful recipe. The credit goes to oil preserved anchovies, olives and capers.  This sauce is spicy, tangy and salty. That means it has to be good, right!

If you have never had anchovies in pasta then you are missing out a flavorful ingredient in your life and if you are scared that it will taste fishy,  then just clear that thought from your mind because it doesn’t taste fishy at all. It tastes salty and nutty. The combination of anchovies, kalamata ‘olives and capers with fresh tomatoes takes this pasta puttanesca sauce to some other level which you can’t even imagine. Ohh, I love this sauce!!

Now the name “spaghetti alla puttanesca” literally means “spaghetti in the style of a prostitute” according to Wikipedia. I know, I too was amazed and surprised when I learned the meaning of this recipe. But who cares , if it tastes good and yummy.

The other and very important thing about this puttanesca sauce is it is very easy and quick to prepare. It literally can be prepared in 20 minutes. Infact, you need more time to boil the water for pasta than to prepare the sauce!
 
This pasta is perfect for weekday meals. The sauce is pretty versatile. You can serve this sauce with any kind of pasta, rice or pour it over grilled chicken or fish.

Pasta Puttanesca

Recipe by Neha NairCourse: MainCuisine: Italian

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Pasta puttanesca is an Italian tomato based pasta dish fully loaded with capers, black olives, garlic, anchovies and parsley.

Ingredients

• 10 Oz of whole grain spaghetti or linguini
  

• 4 Oz of anchovies packed in olive oil

• 5-6 big garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1 tsp of red pepper flakes or to taste

• 1 medium onion , finely chopped

• 5 medium red tomatoes, finely chopped

• 15-20 Kalamata olives or any black olives, chopped

• 2.5 Tbsp of capers, crushed

• Handful of parsley, chopped

• Salt to taste

Directions

• Heat wide pan over low-medium heat and pour anchovies with its oil and mash the anchovies with the back of a wooden spoon.
• Add garlic, stir for 40 seconds and then add red pepper, onion and let it cook until translucent.
• Now add tomatoes, salt and cook until the tomatoes are soft and become saucy. (It takes about 8-10 minutes)Be careful while adding salt as anchovies, olives and capers are salty.
• Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions.
• When the tomatoes are soft, add capers and olives and simmer the sauce for 3-5 minutes.
• Drain the spaghetti and keep 1/2 cup of pasta water for later use.
• Add in the spaghetti in the sauce with parsley and mix everything together. Add required amount of pasta water to your desired sauce consistency. Turn off the heat and pasta puttanesca is done.

Notes

• Serve Pasta puttanesca sauce with grilled chicken and z green salad.
• If you are not a big fan of anchovies, use only half amount of anchovies in the sauce.
• Though in my opinion this sauce tastes best with fresh tomatoes but you can use canned tomatoes too in this recipe.