Spaghetti puttanesca recipe
It’s been a while since I craved pasta to the ferocious extent I have done over the past week. My intention was to get into my kitchen as soon as possible and make a pasta dish including some of the flavours I craved – capers, anchovies, olives and tomatoes – but life has been extraordinarily social lately, I’ve hardly been at home to eat a meal. Spaghetti Puttanesca is exactly what I wanted.
I made a very punchy-flavoured version to hit my craving buttons head-on. You may want to tone it down a bit and opt for a smaller quantity of ingredients where applicable.
Another trick I’ve picked up along the way when making pasta and sauce is to always finish off the cooking of the pasta in the sauce and not in the hot water. This way it sucks up so much more of the sauce and flavour. This is how they do it in restaurants.
About 4 minutes before your pasta is done, and whilst it is still too al dente, drain –reserving the cooking water – and toss it in with the sauce. Add some of the cooking liquid because it is still going to need it. Finish off the cooking to al dente and serve immediately.
I love to sprinkle finely cut-up fresh tomato over my Puttanesca at the end. It is not at all traditional, but I love the contrasting raw and cold with the hot and cooked ingredients. I also find the fresh tomato helps break through the saltiness of the sauce.
I have never, ever buy pitted olives. I am yet to taste one that is even vaguely comparable to a whole olive. I will deal with the slightly annoying olive pip-spitting-out situation vs. the inferior taste of a factory-pitted version and quite frankly life is too short to pit your own.
Spaghetti puttanesca
Ingredients
- 250 g spaghetti
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed or finely chopped
- 6 – 8 anchovy fillets chopped
- 1 x 400g tin 14-ounce, peeled chopped tomatoes
- A small handful of flat-leaf parsley chopped (half for the sauce and half reserved to garnish)
- A few basil leaves chopped or 1Tbsp basil pesto
- 2 – 3 Tbsp capers
- ½ cup black olives
- 1/2 t dried chili flakes or one fresh red chilli finely chopped
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve
- Finely chopped fresh tomato to serve optional
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a large pot with salted boiling water as per instructions.
- Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the garlic and anchovies. Cook briefly until the garlic just starts to turn golden and the anchovies break down.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, capers, olives, half the parsley and fresh basil/basil pesto, and the chili, and cook for a few minutes. If it starts thickening too quickly, add ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water.
- Drain the pasta before it is down -reserving the cooking water - and mix it into the sauce, toss around, adding additional pasta water if necessary. Continue to cook for a few minutes and until the pasta is done to your liking.
- Scatter over the remaining parsley and dish up in bowls.
- Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Love that you finish off cooking the pasta in the sauce, I’ve never thought of that. This looks amazing!!
Thanks Matt, it is something I have only started doing recently and makes such a big difference to the flavour.
This looks amazing, and just love your images. I am definitely going to have to make this.
Finish off the cooking of pasta in the sauce pan… this is exactly what we do in Italy! A very authentic Italian recipe, brava 🙂 🙂
I love puttanesca, this looks mouth watering!
Sam this looks amazingly fantastic
Mmmm, looks tasty! What could you use in place of the anchovies?
I have always cooked the pasta in the sauce but learned not that long ago to add some pasta water, for one because you need more for the pasta but also the starch from the pasta in the water helps combine all the flavors and attach to the pasta. Thats my understanding anyways : )
This looks to die for! I have a full on carb craving now!
Hi Steph, really nothing that can replace anchovies as such. Perhpas just more capers and olives?
Thank you, I was kinda thinkin the same thing, gunna have to try it : )
This looks so good and never tried with capers! My mouth is watering!
Mmmmm.. another heartwarming winter pasta. My hubby is quite intolerant to anchovies and so I have substituted over the years with tuna… naturally anchovies have a unique tanginess that tuna doesn’t have, but nonetheless when marinated in brine it too, smacks of the sea and adds bulky chunks for extra texture making for that true fulfilling, richness of a putanesca… and with this wintery capetown day, just what’s called for tonight 😉 thanks for the reminder Sam!
I love this pasta and i think this is the best puttensca i have ever seen.
these are my favourite flavour combinations and I often make this sauce to go over fresh fish 🙂
So awesome over fish too. Yum! #cantgetenough
I can’t believe I’m just now finding your site, but I’m so glad I did. This recipe looks incredible!
Thanks for the tip of cooking the last bit of the pasta in the sauce. While I am traveling I am always looking for ways to enrich my cooking with few ingredients. I have been cooking tomatoes in garlic in the extra pasta water to spice up simple dishes, but this changes the ball game all together. Oh, I miss my kitchen!
Hi Tammy – thak you and Im glad you did.
Sam x
I just got my taste buds back what I can do that it looks so yummy and I love any thing with coffee in or out of it
Hi! Love this recipe-it’s become a staple in our house. But it appears it has expired. Any chance you could re-post? Thanks!
HI Sarah
Thanks for letting me know and the plugin stopped working. The recipe is up and running again now.
Enjoy!
Sam
I made this multiple times now! It is fabulous. Sone times I use pasata instead of tinned tomatoes for a thicker sauce. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Amie
Im so glad you like it and thanks for letting me know 🙂
I just made this and it was easy and delicious!! Thanks Sam