Seeking Italian or the cupboard is low on things? Check out this Spaghetti Puttanesca recipe and forfeit the need of deciding anything!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca is, unsurprisingly, and Italian pasta dish invented in the mid 20th Century Naples.

As many Italian pasta dishes, Spaghetti alla puttanesca isn’t something of an overly affluent dish either. It consists of pasta, a sauce and some spices with preferably fresh herbs to distinguish itself from the rest of the dishes but that’s all. A barbebone dish that has never aspired for grandour or fame, yet once we give it a try, we’ll reserve a special spot for it in our hearts for times to come.

Although Puttanesca in its closest sense means “whore” in Italian, the dish has little to do with girls and much more to do with the word “Puttanesca” being used for an all purpose profanity word in Italy. So the name itself could be loosely translated to “Crappy Spaghetti” with the broad meaning of “throwing together whatever crap we have in the cupboard”.

Hence getting the exact recipe for Spaghetti alla Puttanesca is next to impossible but the general consensus is that the dish contains some sort of pasta, tomato sauce with some green stuff on it.

Garlic is a welcome addition, although some like to skip it similarly to capers, olives, anchovies or oregano. The type of pasta, we can use, is a bit narrowed down since spaghetti, Penne, Buatini, Linguine and Vermicelli are the ones preferred.

Although if we haven’t got them in our cupboard, we are free to use anything that survived the latest purge, given that we still have the freedom of choice.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons / 10g Salt
1lb / 500g Spaghetti
2 tablespoon / 30ml Olive oil (NOT extra virgin)
1 teaspoon / 5g Salt
4 cloves / 12g Garlic
6 fillets / 25g Anchovies or tuna (finely cut – more tuna for more protein)
2 tablespoons / 30g Red pepper (diced)
½ cup / 80g Black olives
2 tablespoons / 40g Capers
29 oz / 800g Tomato puree
1 oz / 30g Parmesan or any hard cheese to taste
2 tablespoons / 8g Fresh parsley (finely cut)

How to make Spaghetti alla puttanesca

Cook the pasta in salty water. Traditional instructions demand the pasta to be cooked in boiling water which is the most accurate way to achieve the perfect aldente pasta following the instructions on the packaging. If we like our pasta soft through and through, which also means less calories to volume ratio due to the increased water absorption, just put it in the cold water right at the start and cook until the desired consistency is achieved.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the puttanesca sauce by sautéing (stir-frying) the diced garlic on hot oil and salt until slightly browned, about 3 minutes.
Mix in the optional anchovies or tuna. Tuna is an excellent source of protein, increase the amount as needed per serving.
Mix in the diced red pepper or red pepper flakes, black olives and capers.
Pour in the tomato puree then bring it to boil. Place a lid halfway on top so it prevents splutter and on low to medium heat cook away some of the liquid, about 10 – 30 minutes. The more water evaporates, the more intense the tomato sauce’s flavor will be, but once the pasta is done the sauce doesn’t need to wait any longer either.
Drain the pasta. To avoid pasta to stick together, place it under running water for a couple of seconds to remove surface starch.
Mix the pasta into the tomato sauce with the grated cheese and chopped parsley. Serve with extra grated cheese and parsley on top.