Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
one of the most underrated pasta dishes
I have been craving Spaghetti alla Puttanesca for weeks now. There’s something about all the deep savouriness and briny flavours, it’s just a classic. This dish was first put on my radar by A Series of Unfortunate Events, a children’s book series that I loved as a kid. There’s a scene in the books where the Baudelaire children are tasked with preparing a meal for Count Olaf and there’s basically a recipe written into it:
“‘Puttanesca.' It's an Italian sauce for pasta. All we need to do is sauté olives, capers, anchovies, garlic, chopped parsley, and tomatoes together in a pot, and prepare spaghetti to go with it."
For whatever reason, this part of the series really stuck with me, probably because I’ve always been food-minded. But it was only a few years ago when I actually made the sauce myself for the first time. Back then, I was pretty strictly plant-based, so omitted the anchovies. It was still delicious though: rich, briny, savoury, and a nice twist on your classic red sauce. But I will say that using anchovies this time around added something a little extra. This is my first time cooking with them and they truly melt into the oil you fry them in and add umami without any detectable fishiness. I’m excited to cook with the rest of the can, maybe in another pasta dish where I want some umami richness—I have some ideas.
Puttanesca could not be any easier. I won’t even get into the origins of the dish (or where the name derived from) because that’s been highly contested, but I’m pretty sure everyone can agree that it’s quick, simple and hits the spot. It’s made almost entirely from pantry ingredients: olives and capers for that salty bite, chili flakes for a little heat, and canned tomatoes, preferably San Marzano because they add the perfect amount of sweetness to balance out the very savoury ingredients. If your tomatoes lean more sour, a tiny pinch of sugar helps round things out. Finish with fresh basil and a good grating of parm, and that’s it. Just perfect.
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
2-3 servings
Ingredients:
250g spaghetti
4 anchovies packed in oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
pinch chili flakes (to taste)
1/4 cup pitted and chopped Kalamata olives
1 tbsp capers
1 14oz can San Marzano tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
handful fresh basil
parm to serve
Instructions
Fry the anchovies: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In the meantime, heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add anchovies to the oil, turn the heat to low and cover with a splatter screen or lid immediately as they will begin to splatter. Once the sputtering has calmed down (about 1-2 minutes), remove the lid and break up the anchovies with a spatula, they will melt into the oil.
Build the Sauce: Add the garlic, chili flakes, olives and capers and fry for 2-3 minutes. Then pour in the can of tomatoes and break them up with the spatula. Season with a small pinch of salt and black pepper and allow to simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.
Boil pasta: Add a good pinch of salt to the now boiling water along with the spaghetti and stir. Cook until al dente according to package instructions.
Bring everything together: Add the cooked spaghetti to the puttanesca sauce along with a splash of pasta water and stir to coat the pasta. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat. Serve and top with parm. Enjoy!
This would make the perfect weeknight dinner. So quick and delicious, I need to make it more often! I hope you try it out, let me know if you do.
Raquel xo
IG: @FreshofftheRaq
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mouth? watering.