If you fancy a walk through Naples, I suggest starting by preparing one of its most popular and passionate Italian pasta recipes: spaghetti alla puttanesca. You’ll see how, without leaving home, the sauce will transport you to Italy. And as soon as you bring the dish to the table and take a bite, just closing your eyes will make you feel like you’re eating in one of its seaside restaurants.
Full of aroma and flavour, the puttanesca sauce has various claimed origins – from the establishments where it was commonly prepared (mostly brothels), to the idea of making it with “whatever you could find” in a Neapolitan kitchen after a hard day’s work. Whatever the true reason, the fact is that pasta alla puttanesca is an icon of Italian cuisine.
If you make this recipe with homemade fresh pasta, it will taste heavenly; but it’s not mandatory. Ideally, use a long pasta such as pappardelle, fettuccine or tagliatelle alla puttanesca. What I do recommend is using the ingredients I list in the recipe. You know I like adapting recipes with a personal touch – and these spaghetti alla puttanesca are no exception. Adding a little celery gives extra aroma, and this time we’ll swap black olives for Kalamata olives, whose intense, deep flavour enhances any dish. Shall we head to Naples?
Ingredients
- 200 g fresh long pasta, in this case spaghetti*
- 400 g whole peeled tomatoes (canned)
- 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
- 5 anchovies
- 10–20 g capers (depending on taste)
- One celery stick, roughly chopped
- 50–60 g pitted Kalamata olives
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh chopped parsley
- Salt (if needed)
- 1–2 chillies (optional, for some heat)
*You can buy fresh or dried pasta. Or you can make it at home – it’s not difficult and the result is far superior to store-bought. If you’d like to try, here we explain how to make fresh pasta.
Preparation
- Heat a stainless steel pan over medium heat with a good splash of oil.
- When the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic and let it brown slightly without burning. Add the capers and stir to release their flavour. If using chilli, add it at this stage.
- Add the anchovies and stir gently until they dissolve.
- Once the anchovies have dissolved, add the whole tomatoes and the roughly chopped celery. Stir with a spoon or spatula, breaking the tomatoes so they release their juices and break down.
- Let the mixture cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally to break down the tomatoes and prevent sticking.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to the boil, add the pasta with a generous handful of salt and cook until 2 minutes short of “al dente”.
- When the sauce is ready, remove the celery pieces and add freshly ground black pepper. Add the whole Kalamata olives and stir well. Taste and adjust salt if necessary.
- Remove the pasta from the water 2 minutes before “al dente”, reserving some cooking water.
- Add the spaghetti to the pan with the sauce, pour in a little cooking water and stir quickly to combine everything.
- Serve the spaghetti on pasta plates (to keep it warm) and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Done!
