The Best Spaghetti Puttanesca with Pantry Staples
Spaghetti puttanesca is the perfect mid-week dinner for those short on time, but wanting plenty of flavor. Ready in under 30 minutes, using pantry staples.
Servings: 2 portions
Calories: 448kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1-2 tablespoon Capers
- 5-6 Anchovy Fillets
- 12-15 Pitted Black Olives
- 1 Garlic Clove Peeled
- ½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 can Peeled Plum Tomatoes [canned whole tomatoes]
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Parsley Finely Chopped
- 160 g Spaghetti
Instructions
Preparation of the ingredients for Puttanesca sauce
- Thinly chop the fresh parsley, anchovies, capers and olives, and keep them separate. The olives can be roughly chopped for texture, if desired.
- Peel the garlic clove and, using a fork, break down the peeled plum tomatoes.
Cooking the sauce
- Warm up the olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
- As soon as it is warm, add the garlic clove, finely chopped anchovies, capers, and crushed red pepper flakes, and reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Allow the ingredients to gently fry and flavor the oil. This will take 3-4 minutes.
- As soon as the garlic clove turns lightly golden, add the tomato sauce to the pan, and allow it to reach a light simmer, stirring occasionally.
- In the meantime, cook the pasta according to package directions in a large pot of boiling salted water.
- After the sauce has been simmering for about 10 minutes, add the olives and chopped parsley.
- Mix the sauce well and adjust the seasoning if required. As anchovies, olives, and capers are quite salty, do not add salt and pepper before this step.
- Remove the whole garlic clove from the sauce.
- Once the pasta is ready (al dente), remove a cup of cooking water and set it aside, before draining the rest.
- Add the pasta to the puttanesca sauce, and mix well. If necessary, add some of the pasta cooking water to adjust the consistency.
- Your pasta puttanesca is now ready to be served with your favorite side salad or a nice warm slice of garlic bread. Enjoy!
Notes
Canned Tomatoes: Canned chopped or peeled tomatoes both work. Simply crush the whole peeled ones using a fork.
Olives: Kalamata olives are strong, briny, and slightly tangy. Other black olives work too, however, ensure they are good quality ones, like Gaeta or olive Taggiasche.
Anchovy Fillets: Opt for ones that are jarred in olive oil, as they are salty, rich, and with a deep umami flavor. Anchovy paste can be used instead, but as its flavor is concentrated, you will need to control the amount used.
Capers: Choose capers in brine if possible, as they are perfectly salty and acidic. If going for capers preserved in salt, then remember to rinse them before adding them to the sauce.
Finish with Freshness: If preferred, keep the chopped parsley aside and add it on top of the spaghetti alla puttanesca just before serving. The bright green will offer a great contrast!
How to store pasta puttanesca
Cooked pasta is best consumed fresh, straight away. Puttanesca sauce, on the other hand, can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days, and in the freezer for up to three months. As tomato sauce can stain plastic containers, opt for glass airtight ones, if available. To use, thaw overnight in the fridge, and heat in a saucepan or microwave until piping hot, adding some water if needed. Once hot, add to your pasta dish as usual.
Nutrition
Calories: 448kcal | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 805mg | Potassium: 653mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 831IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 4mg