Spaghetti Puttanesca – Tomato Sauce with Olives, Capers, and Anchovies
Spaghetti Puttanesca is a flavorful tomato sauce with olives, capers, garlic, and anchovies. It’s tasty, and super quick and easy to make.
Today’s dish is one that I have made for many years. I started making it well before I met Mr. Dreamboat, and it was a dish I made often when having friends over for dinner. It’s a quick, easy, and affordable pasta dish that’s loaded with flavor.
If you haven’t had it or heard of it, Spaghetti Puttanesca features a flavorful sauce with tomatoes, olives, capers, anchovies, garlic, and red pepper flakes. It is salty and savory with a bit of a kick from the pepper flakes.
Even if you think you don’t like anchovies, don’t omit them. They break down in the sauce so that you won’t even know they are there. They just add a nice, salty, savory flavor without a lot of fishiness. If you don’t like olives and/or capers, you probably won’t like puttanesca at all, so skip it altogether.
How to make Spaghetti Puttanesca
Making spaghetti puttanesca from start to finish takes no more than 20-30 minutes. First things first: start boiling the water to make the spaghetti. Follow the directions on the package to cook the spaghetti to al dente, as it will finish cooking in the sauce. Don’t forget to salt the water when it comes to a boil. And remember to save at least ½ cup of the starchy cooking water in case you need to add it to the sauce later.
While the sauce is cooking, mince the garlic and mix it with some water. This ensures that the garlic doesn’t brown too much or burn when it’s cooking. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet. If you have extra oil from your anchovies, you can use that for extra flavor. When the pan is hot, add the garlic-water mixture, the anchovies, and the red pepper flakes. Note that if you’re using whole anchovy filets, there is no need to cut them up – they will simply break down when they’re cooking.
When the garlic becomes fragrant (2-3 minutes), stir in the diced tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the olives, capers, and parsley. Then stir in the cooked, drained spaghetti.
Continue cooking and stirring the spaghetti until everything is evenly distributed and the spaghetti is tender, about 2-3 minutes. If the sauce becomes too thick, add a little of the reserved pasta water a little bit at a time until it reaches a consistency that you like.
Serve the pasta, and garnish with an additional sprinkle of minced parsley, if desired. Serve with a green salad to make a complete meal.
Spaghetti Puttanesca Ingredients
- Spaghetti – Substitute with Gluten-Free spaghetti to make your Puttanesca gluten-free. You can also use whole wheat spaghetti if that’s what you prefer.
- Garlic
- Water – Use whatever water you normally drink – cold tap water is fine.
- Olive oil
- Red pepper flakes – Note that spaghetti puttanesca is traditionally a fairly spicy dish. Using 1 tsp of red pepper flakes makes it pretty spicy, but I usually cut back to ½ teaspoon for my family. Feel free to use more or less chili flakes depending on how spicy you like your food.
- Anchovy paste or minced anchovy fillets – Anchovies are typically available in fillets in cans or jars, or as a paste in metal tubes. Either works for this recipe.
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Capers – Capers are brined flower buds that are typically available in small jars in the aisle with other pickles. They come in a variety of sizes. Choose small (nonpareil) capers for this dish.
- Kalamata olives – You can buy Kalamata olives with the pits or with the pits removed (pitted). I highly recommend buying pitted olives for this recipe to save yourself a lot of hassle.
- Parsley
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Spaghetti Puttanesca Nutrition Notes:
This recipe is dairy-free as written. To make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the spaghetti with your favorite gluten-free spaghetti.
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for 1/6 of the recipe. If your portion is more (or less) than that, the nutrition information will vary accordingly.
Spaghetti Puttanesca
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook the spaghetti in salted water to al dente according to directions on the package. Make sure to reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta water before you drain it.
- While pasta is cooking, mix the minced garlic and 1 Tablespoon water together in a small bowl. Heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil, garlic water mixture, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes and 4 teaspoons anchovy paste over medium heat in a large skillet. Stir frequently and cook until garlic is fragrant but not browned, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in 28 ounce can diced tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
- Stir 3 Tablespoons capers, 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, and 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves into the sauce.
- Drain the spaghetti and add it to the thickened sauce. Add the drained spaghetti to the sauce, and continue cooking and stirring for about 2-3 minutes. If the sauce becomes too thick during this time, add some of the pasta water a little bit at a time until it reaches a consistency that you like. Serve with extra minced parsley if desired.
Nutrition
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Cannot remember the last time I made spaghetti puttanesca.. definitely inspired to make some tonight for dinner. This looks delicious, hearty and so comforting!