Spaghetti alla puttanesca
This is one pasta dish with an interesting and controversial origin story. It comes from southern Italy, around Naples. In translation, the name of this dish is something like Prostitute Spaghetti. It is not entirely clear how it got its name, in any case, it is a special dish with strong flavors that is worth trying. It is believed that puttanesca sauce in this form began to be made around the middle of the 20th century. Here I will not delve into the origin of the name of this pasta dish, rather I will focus on the preparation of this special dish. In different regions of southern Italy, this food is prepared slightly differently, the common thing is that the sauce is made from tomatoes, black olives, capers, and salted anchovy fillets are added. Various fresh herbs, parsley, basil, and oregano are also added. Generally, cheese is not added to this pasta, but it is also very tasty without cheese.
Preparation time: About 20 minutes
Level: Easy
Quantity: for two
Ingredients:
About 150 g of good quality spaghetti, cook until al dente according to the manufacturer’s instructions
One 400g tin of plum tomatoes, roughly crushed with a fork
250 g black pitted olives
3 tbsp capers
5-6 salted anchovy fillets
1 small chili, chopped
3 medium cloves of garlic, crushed
A handful of basil leaves, chopped
A small handful of fresh oregano
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil for frying
Black pepper and some sea salt to taste. Be careful with salt – anchovies are quite salty
2 tbsp tomato paste (if desired)
Preparation:
- Boil water in a large pot, add salt, and cook the spaghetti according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Stir the spaghetti while cooking to prevent it from sticking to each other or the bottom of the pot.
- At the same time, crush the garlic, cut the chili into thin slices, and chop the basil, parsley, and oregano leaves.
- Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pan, lightly fry the garlic and chili for about 30 seconds, add capers and olives, add canned tomatoes. Roughly crush the canned tomatoes with a fork or a spatula. Add tomato paste if desired. You don’t need to add it, but with tomato paste, the sauce will be even more tomato-like. Season the sauce with black pepper and a little sea salt. You can always add more salt, but since anchovies are salty, you should be careful when adding salt.
- Add anchovies and chopped herbs. Stir and cook the sauce until the spaghetti is done.
- Add the spaghetti to the sauce and mix.
- Place the food on a plate and garnish with basil, oregano, or parsley leaves.
Ready!!
