How to Make Pasta Puttanesca
Spaghetti Puttanesca is a perfect weeknight dish - if you don't mind the garlic breath. It's made from inexpensive pantry staples and packs a powerful punch of flavor. Best of all, it's ready in just about 15 minutes start to finish.
Puttanesca literally translates to in the style of prostitutes, supposedly because the pungent aromas of garlic, anchovies, capers, and olives tossed with pasta were how Neapolitan prostitutes would lead customers to their doors. This is one of those stories that seem, in the words of Douglas Adams, apocryphal or at least wildly inaccurate. That said, it's a fitting title—puttanesca packs an aromatic punch and then some.
WHY IT WORKS:
- Using a low volume of water for the pasta increases the water's starchiness, which will help to bind the sauce.
- Finishing the pasta in the sauce coats each noodle with flavor.
NOTES:
I don't recommend using a Microplane, grater, or garlic press in this application, as the garlic will end up burning before it can really flavor the oil. Check out our guide on how to chop capers and olives for detailed instructions.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pound (225g) dried spaghetti
Kosher salt
6 tablespoons (90ml) extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced or finely chopped by hand (see note above)
4 to 6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons; 20–30ml chopped anchovy)
Large pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 cup capers, drained and chopped (about 2 ounces; 60g) (see note above)
1/4 cup chopped pitted black olives (about 2 ounces; 60g) (see note above)
1 cup (225g) whole peeled tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, roughly broken up by hand (about half a 14 ounce can)
Small handful minced fresh parsley leaves
1 ounce (30g) finely grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (5-ounce; 140g) can oil-packed tuna (optional)
DIRECTIONS
1. Place spaghetti in a large skillet, sauté pan, or saucepan and cover with water. Add a small pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent pasta from sticking.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, combine 4 tablespoons (60ml) oil, garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat until garlic is very lightly golden, about 5 minutes. (Adjust heat as necessary to keep it gently sizzling.) Add capers and olives and stir to combine.
3. Add tomatoes, stir to combine, and bring to a bare simmer. Continue to simmer until pasta is cooked to just under al dente (about 1 minute less than the package recommends).
4. Using tongs, transfer pasta to sauce. Alternatively, drain pasta through a colander, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Add drained pasta to sauce.
5. Add a few tablespoons of pasta water to sauce and increase heat to bring pasta and sauce to a vigorous simmer. Cook, stirring and shaking the pan and adding more pasta water as necessary to keep sauce loose, until pasta is perfectly al dente, 1 to 2 minutes longer. (The pasta will cook more slowly in the sauce than it did in the water.) Stir in remaining olive oil, parsley, and cheese.
6. Season with salt and pepper. (Be generous with the pepper and scant with the salt—the dish will be plenty salty from the other ingredients.) If using, stir in canned tuna and break it up with a fork. Serve immediately with more grated cheese at the table.
Music: Bensounds.com
Pasta Puttanesca: A fantastic weeknight Italian pasta dish!
Pasta Puttanesca is not only the one Italian pasta dish I cooked the most, but it is definitely also one of my favorites. Puttanesca pasta sauce has a powerful aroma with salty notes from anchovies, capers, and olives so as a sweet base from quality canned tomatoes.
The best thing about this recipe, however, is that it can only be made with ingredients from the larder.
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Black Olives:
Linguine:
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Chili Flakes:
Parsley
Garlic Cloves
Capers
Olive Oil
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Classic Pasta Puttanesca Recipe
Oil cured black olives add an amazing flavor to this pasta puttanesca recipe. I used long fusilli, but any substantial pasta goes well with this anchovy, caper, garlic, and olive tomato-based sauce. This classic Italian pasta recipe has the best flavor from umami rich anchovies, so unless you really dislike them, try to use at least a few for an authentic puttanesca taste. I hope you enjoy it!
20-MINUTE WEEKDAY PASTA SERIES:
TUNA PASTA WITH OIL-CURED BLACK OLIVES:
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GEAR OFTEN USED IN VIDEOS (affiliate)
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Most Used Chef's Knife:
Pasta Spider:
Frantoia Olive Oil 1 Liter:
Sclafani Crushed Tomatoes:
Iwatani Butane Burner:
INGREDIENTS:
▪1 pound pasta
▪1 (28) ounce can plum tomatoes
- crushed or blender pulsed
▪3 ounces tomato paste
▪6 garlic cloves - sliced
▪5 anchovy fillets
▪1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
▪1/4 cup fresh parsley - minced
▪3/4 cup oil-cured black olives - rinsed to remove salt
▪1/2 cup green olives
▪2 tablespoons capers - rinsed to remove salt
▪1/4 cup olive oil
▪1/4 extra virgin olive oil - finish
▪salt/pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a 1/4 cup of olive oil saute the garlic and minced anchovies over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes or until the anchovies dissolve and the garlic turns golden. Add in the chili flakes and cook for 30 seconds more.
2. Next, add in the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently.
3. Add in the plum tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
4. Add in the chopped olives and capers.
5. Taste test the sauce and adjust salt and pepper if required. Because of the saltiness of the ingredients, little extra salt will be needed.
6. Remove half the sauce from the pan. Add in a ladle of pasta water. Add in the al dente pasta and cook for 1-2 minutes to thoroughly coat pasta with the sauce. If more sauce or pasta water is needed add some back into the pan. Serve remaining sauce on the table or for bread dipping.
7. Right before serving drizzle a bit of high-quality extra virgin olive oil onto each plate. Enjoy!
SERVE WITH:
Garlic and Oil Broccoli
Sauteed Broccoli Rabe
Garlic Green Beans
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Gino D'Acampo's Linguine Puttanesca | This Morning
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It’s Gino's all-time favourite pasta dish and he's sharing the recipe with all of us! It's a Monday night store cupboard saviour - linguine puttanesca.
Get the recipe here:
Broadcast on 30/01/2017
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Spaghetti alla Puttanesca - Chef Pasquale
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Today I will show you how to make my version of Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. I do not include capers in this recipe, but feel free to add them.
What you'll need:
Canned Plum Tomatos
Anchovies
Black Olives
Olive Oil
Parsley
Onions and Garlic
Hot Peppers
Capers (Optional)
How to make PASTA PUTTANESCA
PUTTANESCA SAUCE AND PASTA PUTTANESCA
Puttanesca pasta is a game changer from Naples, Italy. If you think don’t like anchovies, think AGAIN! Smother your pasta in thick tomato sauce with a kick of salty anchovies and capers, throw some olives in the mix and add fresh parsley for the ultimate puttanesca sauce.
#puttanesca #pastaputtanesca #puttanescapasta
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HOW TO MAKE PASTA PUTTANESCA
INGREDIENTS:
300g (10.6oz) Spaghetti (use a dry, long pasta) OR Penne
6x Anchovies in olive oil
2x Tablespoons of Capers under salt
2 garlic cloves
Kalamata olives (Or Gaeta olives if you can get them!)
1 tin peeled tomatoes (or a generous amount of juicy cherry tomatoes)
Bunch fresh parsley
Rock Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
UTENSILS:
Medium size bowl
Large pot for cooking pasta
Chopping Board
Knife
Large fry pan
Spatula
Potato masher
METHOD:
1. Puttanesca sauce is very flavoursome and salty so start by washing the capers under water to remove the salt.
2. Put the water on to boil (before you start making the puttanesca pasta) so that you cook your pasta at the same time as you make your sauce.
3. Next put a fry pan on your stove at a medium heat and add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
4. Once the oil has started to warm up add your anchovies (approx. 2-3 per person) and melt them into the oil by moving them around with a spatula.
5. Leave these for around a minute as they will start to shrink and infuse the oil with the flavours.
6. Next add the garlic (either finely chopped or pressed) and olives, and mix this through.
7. When you add the olives, gently squeeze them with your hands, before adding them to the pan. Continue to mix all of the Puttanesca pasta ingredients together.
8. Now add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to the bowl of peeled tomatoes, along with freshly chopped parsley and mix it well before squashing it all down using a potato masher!
9. Mix this until you get a much smoother consistency, leaving the puttanesca sauce ingredients to lightly simmer.
10. Pour in the tomato mixture and let this simmer for a few minutes, stirring it every so often.
11. Once the pasta is ready, strain it, and add it to the pan.
12. Toss the pan with the puttanesca pasta so all of the ingredients dance together.
13. Remove the pan from the stove.
HOW TO SERVE
Serve up a single portion of puttanesca pasta on a flat plate and enjoy nice and hot! Make sure once you have served it up on a plate, you use a spoon to scoop up some extra capers and olives from the puttanesca sauce and add it to each portion. Sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley on top. It will be full of flavour with an added kick, so enjoy every mouthful.
E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate…Enjoy!
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Re-watch the Pasta Puttanesca video recipe