Easy Pasta Puttanesca Recipe

This Pasta Puttanesca recipe holds a special place in our hearts. It was the first meal that I (Bill) ever cooked for Leah when we were first dating. Obviously, it worked as we recently celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary.

What is Pasta Puttanesca?

Pasta Puttanesca is a classic Italian quick sauce. Legend has it that certain working girls (putta in Italian) needed a quick meal between customers. This quick sauce was their solution. Thus the name, which literally means pasta in the manner of the, well, you know.

Use What you Have

Women in brothels did not necessarily have a full larder to draw from. They also had little time to cook.

So, out of necessity this puttanesca sauce needed to be easy and flexible. Also, it required ingredients that needed little prep time. As a result, the recipe calls for whole tomatoes — why waste time chopping.

If you have whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, by all means use them. They are the gold standard for this dish. If all you have is a can of diced tomatoes or puree in your cupboard, go ahead and use them instead.

Happen to have some fresh tomatoes that you need to use up? Check out our article about how to peel tomatoes to prep them for sauce. It’s easier than you think.

Ingredients for making spaghetti alla puttanesca

• 1 lb spaghetti, linguine or similar long thin pasta
• 1 tin anchovies
• 4 tbsp High-quality extra virgin olive oil
• 28 ounces tomatoes, whole peeled is traditional. I prefer to work with diced or crushed
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed or minced, depending on your preference
• 3 tbsp capers, drained
• 4-5 leaves fresh basil, substitute 1 tbsp dried if need be
• 1 tsp oregano and/or parsley
• 1/4 cup pitted and quartered olives, black or kalamata
• 1 tsp salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Begin to boil a large pot of water for the pasta. While the pasta water is heating up, in a deep, large skillet, heat olive oil. Once it is shimmering add anchovies and saute until they are dissolved.

Add the capers and garlic and saute until slightly browned. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano/parsley and olives. Simmer on low.

Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until limp, but very al dente. Remove al dente pasta from water and transfer it to the sauce pan for finishing. Preserve 1/4 cup of pasta water. So don’t drain the pasta in the sink or you’ll lose this precious ingredient.

Add pasta cooking water to the saucepan, if the tomato sauce looks too thick or there is not enough liquid to finish the pasta in the skillet. If the sauce is too thin, add a teaspoon of tomato paste.

Salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the pasta is finished. Serve right from the pan.

Anchovies vs sardines

If you don’t love anchovies, don’t fret. As they cook up in the olive oil, they dissolve leaving just an essence that gives a salty body to the sauce. Leah doesn’t like anchovies and would never willingly add them to pizza or another recipe.

However, the first time I made this dish for her, I didn’t tell her about that ingredient and she never complained. Trust me — these tiny anchovy fillets do not overpower the flavor of this pasta puttanesca recipe.

Again, feel free to improvise here. Have sardines instead of anchovies? Go with them. However, you have to realize that they will likely not fully dissolve the way anchovies do. And if you want to impress the person you’ll be serving, maybe skip the fish ingredient altogether so as not to risk it.

Use what you like for this spaghetti alla puttanesca recipe

As with most of my recipes, I encourage you to add what you like and exclude what you don’t. The recipe included here has olives in it because, for many people, olives are central to the dish.

I don’t prefer olives, especially kalamata olives, so I never add them when I am cooking for myself. However, I do use capers. It is the only brined ingredient I enjoy eating. Also, I found out that there are certain health benefits of capers.

If I have a pepper, half an onion or some scallions that are getting past their prime and need cooking, I’ll finely chop them and in they go.

Again, consider the recipe here to be your baseline and riff as you see fit. Recipes, like rules, are made to be broken. Or at least futzed with.

If you find you want a thicker sauce, add some tomato paste. I have recently begun to buy my paste in tubes, like toothpaste. I find it is more convenient for small amounts than having to open a can. This saves me from wondering what to do with the rest of the can of tomato paste if I only want a spoonful for a recipe.

Finally, pasta puttanesca is meant to be served with spaghetti-like macaroni. So you can try your hand at homemade spaghetti noodles, if you’re so inclined. Here are tips on the right way to cook spaghetti as well as the right way to cook pasta overall.

However, I’ve found that linguini — with its flatter, slightly thicker noodles — does a better job of holding onto the ingredients with each bite.

Here’s another spaghetti dish that’s quick and easy like my puttanesca recipe — aglio olio e peperoncino.