How to Make Puttanesca Sauce
Puttanesca sauce is a tangy, savoury Italian pasta sauce made with tomatoes, olives, capers, garlic, and anchovies. It’s a flavorful and delicious sauce often served with spaghetti or other types of pasta.
The origins of the name “puttanesca” are somewhat disputed, but it’s generally believed to come from the Italian word “puttana,”. According to one theory, this dish was invented by Neapolitan women who wanted to prepare a quick and easy meal. Another theory suggests that restaurateurs used the intense aroma of the sauce to lure in customers.
Regardless of its origins, puttanesca sauce is a popular and flavorful option for pasta lovers, and it can be easily customized to suit different tastes. Some recipes may include additional ingredients such as red pepper flakes, parsley, or onions, and the anchovies can be adjusted to suit individual preferences.
Watch Pasta Puttanesca video recipe:
How to make Puttanesca Sauce like an Italian
Vincenzo’s Top Tip To Make Puttanesca Sauce
Add the ingredients in the correct order.
Adding the ingredients correctly is essential to ensure the best flavour. Start by sautéing the garlic and chilli flakes, then add the anchovies, followed by the tomatoes, olives, and capers.
Season with salt carefully.
Since the anchovies, olives, and capers are already quite salty, it’s essential to carefully season the sauce with salt. Taste the sauce as you go and adjust the seasoning as needed.
Use good pasta.
Since the sauce is quite bold, pairing it with pasta that can stand up to its flavour is best. Spaghetti, linguine, or bucatini are all good choices.
Puttanesca Sauce
Equipment
- Medium size bowl
- large pot for cooking pasta
- Chopping-board
- knife
- Large fry pan
- Spatula
- Potato masher
Ingredients
- 300 grams Spaghetti 10.6oz. Use a dry, long pasta OR Penne
- 6 Anchovies in olive oil
- 2 tbsp 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 EVOO
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Puttanesca sauce is very flavoursome and salty so start by washing the capers under water to remove the salt.
- 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.
- Next put a fry pan on your stove at a medium heat and add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- 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.
- Leave these for around a minute as they will start to shrink and infuse the oil with the flavours.
- Next add the garlic (either finely chopped or pressed) and olives, and mix this through.
- 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.
- 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!
- Mix this until you get a much smoother consistency, leaving the puttanesca sauce ingredients to lightly simmer.
- Pour in the tomato mixture and let this simmer for a few minutes, stirring it every so often.
- Once the pasta is ready, strain it, and add it to the pan.
- Toss the pan with the puttanesca pasta so all of the ingredients dance together.
- Remove the pan from the stove.
- E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate….Enjoy!
Video
How to serve Puttanesca Sauce
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.
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One of my favorite pasta sauces. I prefer to also add fresh chili
That sounds like a great addition to the classic puttanesca sauce! The heat from the chili would add a nice kick to the sauce.
Perfect recipe and I agree with Mats, often we add chili and IMHO it makes a great addition! 🙂
Chili can definitely add some extra heat and depth of flavor to the dish, and it’s great to hear that you enjoyed it. Have fun experimenting with different variations and making it your own!
What size can (ounces/grams) of tomatoes is needed? Thanks!
Vincenzo!
Your Puttanesca recipe is wonderful, it’s devine!
I‘ve even made it!
Dani from Switzerland
I’m so honored that you made my puttanesca sauce recipe all the way in Switzerland! It’s always so exciting to hear from people around the world who are cooking and enjoying my recipes.
How much olives? Also, what size “tin” of tomatoes? Here in US there are 14oz and 28oz tins. Also confused… it says above that a “top tip” is to add the ingredients in the correct order, garlic first then anchovies. But the actual recipe says to add anchovies first and then garlic after.
Hey there! Thanks for your questions! I use about 1/2 cup of olives, and for the tomatoes, go for a 28oz tin. Apologies for the confusion on the order—follow the recipe’s steps for the best results!