Pasta Puttanesca

It’s hard to beat Italian recipes for quick and simple pasta dishes that taste amazing.

This pasta puttanesca is one of those meals that makes you wonder how a few simple ingredients like tomatoes, olives, and capers can make such a tasty sauce.

And all without meat, fish, or dairy, and ready in about the time it takes to boil the pasta. There are no anchovies in the original recipe!

Originally from Naples, pasta puttanesca or aulive e chiapparielle in Napolitan (olives and capers in English) is now popular throughout Italy and worldwide thanks to its simplicity, beautiful colors, and, most importantly, its wonderfully rich and yet balanced taste.

The sauce has it all: the natural sweetness from whole peeled tomatoes, ideally San Marzano, canned at peak ripeness.

The savory and tangy notes from the capers and black Gaeta olives. The fiery heat from fresh chili or red pepper flakes. The velvety and fruity mouthfeel of good quality extra virgin olive oil and the freshness of the parsley.

Can you tell we love this dish? It’s definitely a family-favorite recipe.

Here we’ll show you how to make this restaurant-worthy meal with little effort at home and a few pantry staples.

Pasta puttanesca has only a few ingredients. But, of course, it goes without saying that the higher the quality of the ingredients, the more delicious your meal will be.

Spaghetti

We like to use bronze-cut spaghetti. Their rugged and dusty surface makes the puttanesca sauce stick better. You can find them in most supermarkets in the pasta section; they are often imported from Italy.

You can also use regular spaghetti, linguine, or bavette. For gluten-free, use gluten-free pasta.

Tomatoes

Whole canned peeled San Marzano Tomatoes are used in the original Neapolitan recipe.

If you can’t find those, get some generic whole canned peeled tomatoes, preferably imported from Italy.

Olives

The original recipe calls for Gaeta olives. Gaeta is a small town between Rome and Naples, with a mild climate that makes excellent black (actually dark purple) olives that are world famous.

You probably won’t be able to find Gaeta olives unless you go to a fancy Italian deli.

Suitable substitutes are kalamata olives or regular black olives. Our advice is to get olives that are preserved in oil. Drain the oil before using them.

Capers

You can use non-pareille capers. They come preserved in brine or salt. In either case, rinse them under cold running water before adding them to the sauce.

Garlic

It’s best to use fresh garlic for this recipe. For a mild garlic flavor, you should crush the garlic and let it simmer in the sauce, then discard it before tossing it in the pasta.

For a more robust garlic flavor, mince or grate the garlic. We like it better with grated garlic.

Parsley

Pasta puttanesca is made and served with a generous sprinkle of finely chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley, which you can find in most supermarkets.

If you don’t have fresh parsley, you can add dried oregano or fresh basil leaves.

Red pepper flakes

Add more or less red pepper flakes based on your spice tolerance. You can substitute finely chopped fresh chili or cayenne pepper for red pepper flakes.

Olive oil

As for most of our recipes, we recommend using good quality extra virgin olive oil. It tastes better with a mildly fruity and nutty flavor; it’s heart-healthy and packed with antioxidants.

Salt and pepper

The sauce probably won’t need any salt because the olives and capers are already salted. If you like, you can add a twist of black pepper.

Note: there are no anchovy fillets in the original Neapolitan spaghetti alla puttanesca.

The recipe from Lazio, an Italian region, however, does include anchovies. If you want to add anchovies, do so at the beginning, with the olives and capers. You’ll only need 3 to 4 anchovy fillets as they are super salty.

In a large skillet, warm up the olive oil on medium heat. Add pitted olives cut in half lengthwise, rinsed capers, red pepper flakes, and grated garlic.

Fry gently for 1 to 2 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn.

Add in the whole canned peeled tomatoes, stir, crush the tomatoes with a fork, and simmer the puttanesca sauce on medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

Taste and adjust for salt and black pepper if necessary.

Most probably your pasta puttanesca sauce won’t need much salt because the olives and capers are salty enough.

While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, and toss in the pasta.

Cook the pasta very al dente; that is 3 minutes less than instructed on the package.

Reserve 2 cups of pasta cooking water, drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.

Add 1 cup of reserve pasta water and a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley, and finish cooking the pasta on medium-high heat, tossing it for about 2 minutes or until your pasta puttanesca is creamy and al dente.

Add more reserved pasta water if necessary.

Tip: undercooking the pasta and then cooking it in the sauce makes the sauce creamier because the pasta releases its starch in the sauce as it finishes cooking.

Also, the reserve pasta water contains starch, so we add it to the sauce.

Serve the pasta with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

Serve with a side salad:

• Chickpea salad: ready in 15 minutes, one of the easiest ways to add extra greens.
• Easy side salad with fresh vegetables and leafy greens.
• Fennel salad with orange wedges and juicy pomegranate seeds.
• Quick pear salad with ricotta and toasted almonds, a great salad for autumn and winter!

Serve with bread to soak up the sauce leftover on the plate:

• Easy crostini bread ready in just 10 minutes.
• Bruschetta with fresh tomatoes: an Italian classic and a great side dish.
• No-knead Italian focaccia bread: make the dough the night before for weeknight-dinner-friendly focaccia bread.
• Eggplant Bruschetta with tender and sauteed eggplant is an excellent side dish for pasta and lasagna!

Pasta alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma is another simple Italian (or Sicilian) pasta dish prepared with eggplant simmered in a rich tomato sauce. It’s an excellent recipe for a weeknight lunch or dinner.

Check out our pasta alla norma recipe.

Rigatoni arrabbiata

Rigatoni or penne arrabbiata is a classic Italian recipe with pasta coated in a creamy and spicy tomato sauce. It’s an easy no-fuss recipe to make when you feel like a quick and easy (yet tasty and fulfilling) pasta dish.

Check out our rigatoni arrabbiata recipe.

Mushroom Pasta

Our mushroom pasta with cherry tomatoes is a delicious quick pasta recipe with a ton of flavor thanks to the mushrooms sautéed and browned with garlic, then mixed with tomatoes and fresh parsley.

Check out our mushroom pasta recipe.

Refrigerator: store leftover pasta puttanesca in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Please remember to store some pasta water too.

Reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes with a tablespoon or two of reserve pasta water sprinkled on top. Alternatively, reheat on a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of reserved pasta water.

Freezer: this recipe is not suitable for freezing.

Tips

How to cook pasta?

To cook pasta, the rule is 1 liter of water for 100 grams of pasta and 7 grams of salt per 100 grams of pasta. 

Our approximation to USA measurements is 8 cups of water (2 quarts) per 8 ounces of pasta and 1 tablespoon of salt.

For example, you’ll need about 1 gallon (16 cups or 4 liters) of water and 2 tablespoons (30 grams) of salt to cook 1 pound (450 grams) of pasta.

Questions

If you love quick and easy pasta recipes, get fresh inspiration from these fuss-free 20-minute meals:

• Broccoli pasta with an easy-peasy mash-in-the-pot broccoli sauce.
• 20-minute lemon pasta with spinach, grated lemon, and a parmesan sauce.
• Pasta al Limone: velvety, creamy ricotta pasta that takes just 20 minutes to make!
• Spaghetti Pomodoro with a rich and rustic tomato sauce and just 6 ingredients.

More Italian meals

Find your next Italian meal among these reader favorites; they’re all made with simple and few ingredients:

• Eggplant Parmigiana with roasted eggplant slices and a rich and rustic tomato sauce
• Easy Italian bean stew with pinto beans and a flavor-packed tomato sauce that take you straight to the Italian countryside
• Tomato risotto: the easiest risotto you’ll ever make based on Italian cooking traditions
• Lentil pasta with cherry tomato and fresh herbs is a guaranteed family favorite!