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Campania · Puttanesca

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

A bold, briny, fiery sauce of tomatoes, olives, capers, and anchovies — born in the backstreets of Naples.

Total

30 min

Prep

10 min

Cook

20 min

Serves

4

EasyNeapolitanBoldBrinyQuickPantry
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca — Puttanesca

The Story

Where it comes from

The legend says this dish was invented by a Neapolitan madame who needed to feed her guests quickly with what she had in the pantry. Whether true or not, puttanesca is unmistakable: the funk of anchovy, the salt of capers, the dark fruit of olives, and the bright lift of fresh tomato. It's loud, proud, and impossible to forget.

Mise en Place

Ingredients

For 4 servings. Quantities are by weight where it matters — Italian cooking is a math of grams and minutes.

For the pasta

  • Spaghetti

    400 g

  • Coarse sea salt

    for water

For the sauce

  • San Marzano tomatoes

    crushed by hand

    400 g

  • Garlic

    sliced

    3 cloves

  • Anchovy fillets

    in olive oil

    6

  • Black olives

    Gaeta or kalamata, pitted

    80 g

  • Capers

    rinsed if salted

    2 tbsp

  • Red chili flakes

    ½ tsp

  • Extra-virgin olive oil

    60 ml

  • Fresh parsley

    chopped

    small bunch

Equipment

Wide skilletTongs

The Method

Chef-led, step by step

  1. 1

    Bloom the anchovy

    3 min

    Warm olive oil with garlic and chili. Add anchovies and mash into the oil until they dissolve completely.

  2. 2

    Build the sauce

    15 min

    Add crushed tomatoes, olives, and capers. Simmer 15 minutes until the sauce thickens and the oil rings the surface.

  3. 3

    Cook pasta

    8 min

    Boil spaghetti 1 minute under al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water.

  4. 4

    Marry and finish

    2 min

    Toss pasta into the sauce with a splash of pasta water. Cook together 1 minute. Finish with parsley off heat.

Chef tips

  • ·Let the anchovies dissolve fully — they're the umami backbone.
  • ·Rinse salted capers, but leave brined capers as-is.
  • ·The sauce should look almost dry before you add the pasta.

Common mistakes

  • ·Adding cheese. Puttanesca is a no-cheese zone.
  • ·Using bland olives — good olives matter here.
  • ·Over-salting the pasta water — capers and anchovies are salty enough.

The Cellar

Wine pairings

Falanghina

Campania

Crisp, mineral, citrus — the perfect foil to briny boldness.

Aglianico del Vulture

Basilicata

If you want red — structured, dark, holds its own against the funk.

Shopping List

What to bring home

  • Spaghetti400 g
  • Coarse sea saltfor water
  • San Marzano tomatoes400 g
  • Garlic3 cloves
  • Anchovy fillets6
  • Black olives80 g
  • Capers2 tbsp
  • Red chili flakes½ tsp
  • Extra-virgin olive oil60 ml
  • Fresh parsleysmall bunch

Questions

Frequently asked

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