There puttanesca pasta it is a great classic of the Italian tradition, whose origins are disputed between Lazio and Campania, and is consumed regularly throughout the peninsula. It is a very simple and at the same time very tasty dish: spaghetti served with a tomato-based sauce, capers, anchovies, garlic, chilli pepper and black olives. The preparation of pasta alla puttanesca it’s very easy and fast, perfect to serve for an impromptu lunch or to vary the taste of a simple dish of pasta with tomato sauce. The traditional pasta shape to use for this preparation is spaghetti, although some also use bucatini. The important thing, to ensure the perfect success of the recipe, is to choose the tastiest and most succulent black olives and take care to drain the pasta directly into the sauce and then stir it. The most important precaution, however, is to eat it immediately!

Preparation

1

Rinse the capers under running water and chop them finely together with the two anchovy fillets.

2

Pour the oil into a pan and add the garlic cut into three slices and the dried chilli pepper. Fry for about 2 minutes over low heat, then add the minced capers with the anchovies and leave to infuse for 1 minute.

3

Add the tomato puree, add a pinch of salt and let the sauce come to a boil.

4

Remove the garlic, add the olives and cook for 20 minutes on a low flame, covering with a lid.

5

In the meantime, cook the pasta in plenty of salted water and chop the parsley, setting it aside for the final decoration.

6

Drain the pasta directly into the tomato sauce, anchovies, capers and olives. Stir with kitchen tongs. Add the parsley and serve immediately.

Advice and tips

The best and most suitable olives for this preparation they are the olives of Gaeta, very juicy small black olives. If you don’t find them, you can use Taggiasca olives.

You can prepare tomato sauce at home using ripe and juicy tomatoes, such as copper tomatoes: sauté them in a pan for a few minutes together with a drizzle of oil and a little water, then pass them through a vegetable mill to obtain the pulp. Alternatively you can use a can of peeled tomatoes.

You can use the fresh chilli instead of dry. You can also add a sprinkle of dried oregano.

We advise you to dose the salt carefully and not to add more than necessary, because this dish is very salty in itself: use salt only in the pasta water.

Use rather thick spaghetti for this preparation: those are ideal “restaurant” from the size 5.

storage

Puttanesca pasta must be eaten immediately to fully enjoy its goodness. We do not recommend freezing or storing it in the refrigerator.

History

There are many stories that are told about the origin of spaghetti alla puttanesca. The first legend tells that this pasta was invented in Rome by a cook who worked inside a brothel; a very similar version, but set in Naples, was told in the book Naples at table by Arthur Schwartz. Popular tradition has it, however, that this dish was called in this way because of the very bright colors they recalled those of the clothes of ill-fated women. Finally, some say that behind this pasta dish there is the name of Sandro Petti, the owner of the restaurant Rangio Fellone in Ischia, the island in the province of Naples: Petti prepared spaghetti for his guests with what he had at home after receiving an invitation to prepare a “any bullshit”. He then called “spaghetti alla puttanesca” the result.