Pasta Puttanesca

What to Put on the Table With Pasta Puttanesca

• A rough southern Italian red
• Bread for the plate
• A simple green salad

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Cauliflower Risotto, Ciabatta, Citrus Fennel Salad.

How to Cook Pasta Puttanesca

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1. Put the olive oil, anchovies and sliced garlic in a cold pan and set it over low heat.

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2. Warm gently for 4 to 5 minutes, pressing the anchovies with a wooden spoon until they dissolve completely into the oil. Do not let the garlic colour.

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3. Add the chilli flakes and cook 30 seconds.

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4. Add the tomatoes, olives and capers, raise the heat, and simmer 12 to 15 minutes until thick and glossy.

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5. Meanwhile boil the pasta in well-salted water until 1 minute short of al dente.

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6. Reserve a mug of pasta water and drain.

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7. Add the pasta to the sauce with a splash of the water and toss hard over medium heat for 90 seconds until it finishes cooking and the sauce clings.

   Mark done Start 90 sec timer

8. Take off the heat, fold through the parsley and plenty of black pepper.

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9. Taste before adding any salt — it almost certainly needs none. Serve without cheese.

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Notes From the Method

Start the anchovies in cold oil. Dropped into a hot pan they seize and stay in lumps.

No Parmesan. Cheese on a puttanesca is a genuine offence in Naples and it does not need it.

Do not salt the sauce until you have tasted it at the end.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Leftovers

The sauce keeps 4 days refrigerated and freezes 2 months. Cook pasta fresh.

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: an ingredient listed without an amount is not counted, so the figures run low. How the figures are worked out.

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