Few pasta dishes deliver as much flavor with so few ingredients as Pasta alla Puttanesca.
Tomatoes, garlic, olives, capers, anchovies, extra-virgin olive oil and a touch of red pepper come together to create a sauce that is salty, savory, slightly spicy and unmistakably Mediterranean.
Best of all, Puttanesca is remarkably quick to prepare. You can have the sauce practically finished in the time it takes to boil the pasta.
The Origin and History of Pasta alla Puttanesca
Pasta alla Puttanesca is most closely associated with the cooking traditions of Naples and southern Italy, although the exact birthplace—and especially the origin of its colorful name—has been debated for generations.
The dish itself appears to be older than the name.
In his 1837 cookbook Cucina teorico-pratica, Neapolitan culinary writer Ippolito Cavalcanti described vermicelli prepared with oil, olives, capers and salted anchovies—a combination remarkably similar to what would eventually become Puttanesca.
In Naples, a closely related preparation has long been known as aulive e chiappariell, meaning essentially olives and capers.
So where did the name Puttanesca come from?
That's where culinary history becomes considerably more colorful.
The Legend Behind the Name
The Italian word puttana literally means “prostitute,” which has produced numerous stories connecting the dish with the brothels of Naples' Spanish Quarter.
One legend claims the women working there prepared the sauce because it was inexpensive, flavorful and extremely quick to make.
Another story suggests the powerful aroma of garlic, tomatoes, olives and anchovies drifting into the street helped attract customers.
Entertaining stories—but there is little evidence proving either one.
Another frequently repeated account takes us to the Italian island of Ischia during the 1950s.
Restaurateur Sandro Petti was supposedly confronted late one evening by hungry guests when his kitchen was nearly empty. When he told them he had little left to cook, they encouraged him to throw together whatever he had available.
According to the story, Petti combined tomatoes, olives, capers and other pantry ingredients and produced an improvised pasta sauce.
Whatever the precise origin, Puttanesca became one of Italy's great examples of an important culinary principle:
You don't need a long list of expensive ingredients to create extraordinary flavor.
Chef Charles Knight's Pasta alla Puttanesca
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: About 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 12 ounces spaghetti or linguine
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 to 6 anchovy fillets, packed in oil
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
- 1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled Italian tomatoes, preferably San Marzano-style, crushed by hand
- 1/2 cup pitted black or Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- Reserved pasta cooking water, as needed
Preparation
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Because the anchovies, olives and capers are naturally salty, use a little less salt in the pasta water than you normally would.
Cook the pasta until just shy of al dente. Before draining, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
Add the garlic, anchovies and crushed red pepper. Cook gently for about 1 to 2 minutes. Do not brown the garlic.
As the anchovies heat, stir and mash them into the olive oil. They will practically disappear, leaving behind their deep savory flavor.
Add the tomatoes, olives, capers and oregano.
Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for approximately 12 to 15 minutes, allowing the tomatoes to reduce and the flavors to concentrate.
Taste before adding any additional salt—you may discover that none is necessary.
Transfer the slightly undercooked pasta directly into the skillet.
Toss thoroughly with the sauce for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add a splash of reserved pasta water if necessary to help the sauce coat the pasta.
Remove from the heat and finish with fresh Italian parsley and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve immediately.
Chef's Tips for Better Puttanesca
Don't overcook the sauce. Puttanesca should taste bright and lively rather than like a heavy, long-simmered tomato sauce.
Watch the salt. Anchovies, olives and capers bring plenty of natural salinity to the dish.
Let the anchovies melt. Even people who say they don't like anchovies are often surprised by Puttanesca. Properly cooked, the anchovies dissolve into the olive oil and provide savory depth rather than an overpowering fish flavor.
Save the pasta water. A little starchy cooking water helps marry the pasta and sauce together.
Don't drown the pasta. Italian pasta should be coated with sauce—not swimming in it.
What Does Pasta Puttanesca Taste Like?
Puttanesca is an explosion of Mediterranean flavor.
You get the sweetness and acidity of tomatoes, richness of olive oil, pungency of garlic, saltiness from olives and capers, deep umami from anchovies and a gentle background heat from red pepper.
It is bold, rustic and intensely satisfying.
What Pasta Is Best for Puttanesca?
Spaghetti is the classic choice, but linguine and vermicelli are also excellent.
The relatively light tomato-and-olive sauce clings beautifully to long strands of pasta without overwhelming them.
What to Serve with Pasta alla Puttanesca
Keep the rest of the meal simple.
Serve Puttanesca with a crisp green salad, roasted or grilled vegetables and warm crusty Italian bread for capturing every last drop of sauce.
And remember one of the most important rules in Italian cooking:
Great cooking isn't necessarily complicated cooking.
Pasta alla Puttanesca proves it.
