How To Make the Most Yummy Pasta Alla Puttanesca
To make Pasta alla Puttanesca, no grocery trip is required, as it doesn’t involve a long list of ingredients or complicated instructions. A quick, easy, and budget-friendly pasta dinner delicious enough to charm everyone around the table.
Hailing from Naples, Italy, this traditional Pasta Alla Puttanesca recipe is made with peeled tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, anchovies, garlic, herbs, and parsley.
What sets Pasta alla Puttanesca apart is its ability to transform basic pantry staples into a dish bursting with character. The marriage of these ingredients creates a symphony of flavors that coat each strand of pasta, making it a favorite for those seeking a dish that’s both comforting and bold in taste.
The most curious fact about this pasta is that “Puttanesca” literally translates to “in the style of the whore”. That’s because women in Italian brothels lured customers to their doors with the scent of garlic, anchovies, capers and olives topped with pasta.
For this recipe I’ve chosen Pasta Liguori Fettucce, which elevates this pasta dish and makes it even better.
Watch the Pasta alla Puttanesca video recipe:
How to Make PASTA alla PUTTANESCA Like an Italian
Vincenzo’s Plate Tips
ADJUSTING HEAT LEVEL
Adjust the spice level in this spaghetti puttanesca recipe to your liking by adding or omitting the red chili. If you enjoy a bit of heat, add more chilies, but if you prefer a milder and more subtle taste, it’s okay to skip it.
PREVENT BURNING AROMATICS
When cooking garlic and other aromatics, adding a splash of water is a simple trick that prevents burning and unevenly cooked ingredients. This results in a more balanced and delicious dish.
MASH OLIVES FOR FLAVOR
Mashing the olives before adding them to the Puttanesca sauce draws out their juices, infusing the pasta with a rich, smoky, and fruity flavor from the Kalamata olives.
ADJUST TOMATO SAUCE QUANTITY
Tailor the amount of peeled tomato sauce to your preference. If you want a saucier Pasta Alla Puttanesca, add more tomato sauce. For those who prefer a pasta-centric dish, use a smaller amount of tomato sauce.
ADD CHERRY TOMATOES
If you decide to add cherry tomatoes to the dish, include them before the peeled tomatoes. It allows the cherry tomatoes to release their juices, contributing to the overall flavor profile of the sauce.
STIR PASTA WHILE COOKING
To create perfectly cooked pasta, it’s imperative to keep it moving while cooking. Stirring the pasta will prevent it from sticking together, which ensures that it cooks evenly and maintains a desirable texture.
MAKE PASTA WATER YOUR BEST FRIEND
Pasta water is a valuable ingredient in creating a well-emulsified and thicker sauce. When combining the cooked pasta with the sauce, add pasta water as needed. The starch in the pasta water helps the sauce adhere better to the pasta and vegetables.
GARNISH WITH PARSLEY
The final touch of parsley adds a burst of freshness and contributes to the visual appeal of the dish. Consider finely chopping or tearing the parsley for flavor distribution.
How to Serve Pasta Alla Puttanesca?
When serving Pasta Alla Puttanesca, present the dish with generosity, ensuring a lavish display of every flavorful ingredient. Let the salty flavors of olives, capers, and anchovies take center stage over a heaping portion of fettuccine pasta on your plate. Top it off with freshly chopped parsley for that extra pop of color and taste. And what’s the point of a pasta dish without luxury? Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over your creation to give it that smooth and rich finish. For a complete dining experience, pair your Pasta Alla Puttanesca with red wine like Chianti or Pinot Noir.
Pasta Alla Puttanesca
Equipment
- Large Cooking Pan
- large pot for Boiling Pasta
- Garlic crusher
- wooden spoon
- Chopping-board
- Serving Dish
- Tongs
- knife
- fork
- Mug
Ingredients
- 300 grams Fettucce pasta 10.5oz. From Pastificio Liguori
- 400 grams Peeled tomatoes 14.1oz
- 2 tbsp Capers well-washed
- 6 Anchovies
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 2 Chilli Peppers fresh or dried
- 3 tbsp Kalamata olives Pitted
- Parsley as much as preferred
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil EVOO
- Salt & Pepper as much as required
Instructions
- Cut the chili into small pieces. ently crush the peeled tomatoes with a masher.
- Gently crush the peeled tomatoes with a masher, and then add a little bit of parsley to it.
- Add 4 tablespoons of EVOO in a large pan over low heat, toss in anchovies and crushed garlic, and add a splash of water.
- Add chilies to the pan and continue to cook on low heat until anchovies melt into the mixture and disappear.
- Crush the olives with your hands and toss them into the pan.
- Add capers to the pan, gently mix everything, and add 2 tablespoons of water.
- Add peeled tomatoes and give a nice stir so all the ingredients get to know each other, and the flavors meld beautifully.
- Season with salt & pepper, and add some parsley.
- Mash the tomatoes and olives with a masher to get their juices out.
- Add a tablespoon of sea salt to a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to package instructions, and strain when cooked (don’t forget to collect some pasta water).
- Pour 2 tablespoons of pasta water into the sauce and mix.
- Add cooked pasta to the sauce and continue to toss and coat with the sauce while adding pasta water as required until the pasta is moist and absorbs the sauce.
- Serve on a plate by adding a generous heaping of pasta along with all the other ingredients with a garnish of parsley.
Video
E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate….Enjoy!
Do you want to know other Italian pasta recipes that include olives? In these 2 recipes, olives are the ingredient that must not be missing! Try them:
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Thank you very much Vincenzo! I tried your recipe and it’s delicious. Best regards from Slovakia
You’re very welcome! Sending my best regards and happy cooking vibes your way!
Dear Vincenzo,
Pasta Puttanesca was one of the few of your recipes I didn’t like, very probably because I used way too many olives, and will try again sometime. Also the Cacio e Pepa pasta wasn rather bland, possibly because I didn’t fry enough pepper. Next time I’m going to try making it with more crushed papper and possibly a 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes and see if that gives it more of a kick.
I just watched yopur reaction video regarding the negative comments you’ve recieved on Reddit; please pay no attention to these spoil-sports and continue with providing ypour wonerful recipes on YouTube, which have made me a much better home cook. Incidentally, even Kraft can’t call that crap they sell as “cheese” with a clean conscience.
As you’ve always said, we can be creative, so when I make my favorite “mid-nite pasta”, Aglio e Oglio, I use Greek Oregano instead of basil (which I only use in tomato recipes), because I grew up with food spiced with it and Italian Oregano lacks the “bite” of the Italian version. God bless you and your family, Peter Chelemedos, Ben Lomond, California.
Ciao Peter! It’s fantastic to hear that you’re exploring and adjusting recipes to find what best suits your taste. That’s the beauty of cooking—making it suit your taste and preferences. Your “mid-nite pasta” Aglio e Olio twist with Greek Oregano sounds absolutely delicious! Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, and for being part of our cooking family. It is because of wonderful people like you that I will continue to do what I do with all the enthusiasm in my body. I can’t wait for you to see all the things we have cooked up for you in the near future.
PS: Try using less olives in the Puttanesca and let me know how you go. As for the Cacio e Pepe, the more pepper, the better. This should be exploding with flavour – did you find a good quality Pecorino for it?