Name: The Best Spaghetti Puttanesca Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Ingredients: 200 grams spaghetti; 2 Tbsp olive oil; 3 cloves garlic (crushed or finely chopped); 6 to 8 anchovy fillets; 1 x 400 grams tin good quality imported Italian chopped tomatoes; 2 to 3 Tbsp baby capers (or regular capers roughly chopped); 60 grams Kalamata olives (pitted weight, roughly chopped); 1 tsp Calabrian chilli paste (or ½ tsp dried chilli flakes, or 1 fresh red chilli finely chopped); A small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley (chopped (half for the sauce, half to garnish)); A few small fresh basil leaves to finish; Freshly grated Parmesan to serve

Spaghetti puttanesca is one of my all-time favourite pasta dishes. The sauce is punchy, bold and so delicious, hailing from Naples and built on a combination of tinned tomatoes, anchovies, capers, olives and garlic that is close to perfect. I crave this exact combination regularly, and it never disappoints.

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The whole dish is on the table in under 20 minutes, which makes it one of the most useful weeknight pasta recipes you can have in your repertoire. Everything comes from the pantry except the fresh herbs, which means it is also one of the best recipes to fall back on when the fridge is looking sparse.

Ingredients for spaghetti puttanesca recipe

What Is Spaghetti Puttanesca?

Puttanesca is a pasta sauce from Naples in Southern Italy, traditionally made with tinned tomatoes, anchovies, capers, olives, garlic and chilli. It is one of the great store-cupboard sauces that takes as much time to make as it does to cook the pasta. The name has a colourful backstory in Italian culinary folklore, but the dish itself is straightforward, honest and completely delicious.

The quality of your ingredients makes a real difference here. Good imported Italian tinned tomatoes, good-quality anchovies, and Kalamata olives will give you a noticeably better result than cheaper substitutes.

The Anchovies

Do not be tempted to reduce the anchovies or leave them out. They melt completely into the hot oil with the garlic and disappear into the background, leaving a deep, savoury richness that anchors the whole sauce. The dish does not taste fishy. It tastes intensely good.

A bowl of anchovies for spaghetti puttanesca sauce recipe

The Olives

I use Kalamata olives here, which are easy to handle: press each one gently on a board to split it open, remove the pit, then give them a rough chop. The flavour of a whole olive is far superior to anything pre-pitted from a factory, and it takes about two minutes. Worth it every time.

Assortment of cooking ingredients on a wooden board: olives in a glass bowl, capers, olive oil, garlic, parsley, parmesan shavings, spaghetti, a tomato, and sliced meat on a plate.

The Chilli

Calabrian chilli paste is my new favourite addition to the sauce, but dried chilli flakes work just as well. A teaspoon is enough for a background warmth without heat that dominates.

A Good Pasta Cooking Technique

Finishing the pasta in the sauce is a key technique in pasta cooking, and it is how many good Italian restaurants do it.

About four minutes before the pasta is ready, when it is still a little too al dente, scoop it directly into the sauce using tongs or a pasta spoon, bringing some of the starchy cooking water with it. Toss everything together, adding more cooking water a splash at a time to loosen as needed. Continue cooking until the pasta reaches your preferred texture. The starch in the water helps the sauce emulsify and coat every strand. This way the pasta soaks up more of the flavour of the sauce in the final stages of cooking.

Tomato sauce simmering in a pot on the stove, topped with sliced olives and green capers, with fresh herbs and tomatoes nearby.

Serving Suggestions

Freshly grated Parmesan and a few small basil leaves over the top is all you need. This sauce also works beautifully spooned over pan-fried fish, particularly hake or kingklip, which several readers have noted over the years. A piece of good sourdough alongside to mop the bowl is never a bad idea.

Blue bowl of spaghetti puttanesca with tomato sauce, cheese, and fresh basil on a marble countertop.

Prep Time:10

Cook Time:20

Ingredients

200 grams spaghetti
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic crushed or finely chopped
6 to 8 anchovy fillets
1 x 400 grams tin good quality imported Italian chopped tomatoes
2 to 3 Tbsp baby capers or regular capers roughly chopped
60 grams Kalamata olives pitted weight, roughly chopped
1 tsp Calabrian chilli paste or ½ tsp dried chilli flakes, or 1 fresh red chilli finely chopped
A small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped (half for the sauce, half to garnish)
A few small fresh basil leaves to finish
Freshly grated Parmesan to serve

Instructions

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling water with plenty of salt according to the packet instructions. Reserve a cup of the cooking water before draining.
Heat the olive oil in a wide, rimmed frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and anchovies and cook briefly, stirring, until the garlic is just turning golden and the anchovies have broken down into the oil.
Add the tinned tomatoes and cook briefly, then add the capers and olives. Bring to a bubble, then stir through half the parsley and the Calabrian chilli paste.
About four minutes before the pasta is ready, scoop it directly into the sauce using tongs or a pasta spoon, bringing some of the starchy cooking water with it. Toss well, adding more cooking water a splash at a time as needed. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the pasta is done to your liking.
Scatter over the remaining parsley and serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan and basil lea

Notes

Storage: The sauce keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Cook fresh pasta to serve.

Reheating: Reheat the sauce gently in a pan with a splash of water. Cook fresh pasta, then finish in the reheated sauce as described above.

Freezing: The sauce freezes well for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating.

Servings: 2

Author: Sam Linsell

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25 Comments

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!