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Adapted from the Wikibooks Cookbook: Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
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Details
- Description
- A punchy pantry pasta from the Italian islands: anchovies melted into olive oil, then olives, capers, tomatoes and a little chile. Ready in the time the pasta takes. Adapted from “Spaghetti alla Puttanesca” in the Wikibooks Cookbook (CC BY-SA 4.0). Scaled from 6–8 to 4 servings with fewer anchovies; timings added. Photo:
nishidaryuichiPopo le Chien, CC BY2-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (“Pasta Puttanesca”). - Photo
Ingredients
- Unchanged: 400 g spaghetti
- Unchanged: 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Unchanged: 8 anchovy fillets, mashed to a paste
- Unchanged: 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Unchanged: 130 g black olives, pitted and chopped
- Unchanged: 1½ tbsp salted capers, rinsed well and roughly chopped
- Unchanged: 1 small dried chile, chopped(optional)
- Unchanged: 600 g ripe plum tomatoes, peeled and puréed
- Unchanged: 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- Unchanged: Salt, to taste
Method
Unchanged step 1:
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil for the pasta.
Unchanged step 2:
Peel and purée the tomatoes (or use the same weight of passata), chop the garlic, olives and capers, and mash the anchovies.
Unchanged step 3:
Put the olive oil, garlic and anchovy paste in a wide pan over medium heat. Stir until the anchovies melt; don't let the garlic brown.
Unchanged step 4:
Add the olives, capers, puréed tomatoes and chile with 2–3 pinches of salt. Bring to a bubble over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 15–20 minutes until thick.
Unchanged step 5:
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until al dente, then drain.
Unchanged step 6:
Put the pasta in a large warm bowl, coat it with the sauce and scatter over the parsley.
Unchanged step 7:
Toss and serve hot. Italians don't add grated cheese to this one.