Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
Tags: #italian #pasta #classic
Serving: 4 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
A briny, bold tomato pasta with anchovies, capers, and olives that exemplifies southern Italian pantry cooking.
Ingredients
- 320 g spaghetti
- 40 ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 30 g anchovy fillets in oil, drained
- 12 g garlic
- 1 g red chili flakes
- 120 g pitted Gaeta or Kalamata olives
- 25 g capers (salt-packed preferred)
- 400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
- 10 g flat-leaf parsley
- 10 ml extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing
- 30 g fine sea salt, for pasta water
- 2 g fine sea salt, as needed
Steps
- Fill a large pot with 3000 ml water.
- Place the pot over high heat.
- Cover the pot.
- Rinse the capers under cold water.
- Drain the capers in a sieve.
- Chop the capers roughly.
- Slice the garlic thinly.
- Halve the olives.
- Empty the tomatoes into a bowl.
- Crush the tomatoes by hand.
- Chop the parsley finely.
- Place a wide skillet over medium heat.
- Pour 40 ml olive oil into the skillet.
- Add the anchovies to the skillet.
- Stir the anchovies until they melt into the oil.
- Add the sliced garlic to the skillet.
- Stir the garlic until fragrant.
- Sprinkle the chili flakes into the skillet.
- Stir the chili for 5 seconds.
- Add the olives to the skillet.
- Add the capers to the skillet.
- Stir the mixture for 30 seconds.
- Pour the crushed tomatoes into the skillet.
- Stir the sauce to combine.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Simmer the sauce until slightly thickened.
- Uncover the pot.
- Add 30 g fine sea salt to the boiling water.
- Add the spaghetti to the boiling water.
- Stir the spaghetti to prevent sticking.
- Set a timer for 2 minutes less than the package time.
- Cook the spaghetti at a steady boil.
- Taste the sauce.
- Add up to 2 g fine sea salt to the sauce if needed.