Pasta Puttanesca, or Spaghetti alla Puttanesca, is a delicious dish with a bizarre name, the prostitute’s pasta (or spaghetti of the prostitute). There are a number of stories as to how the pasta dish got its name. Some day the dish got its name from the prostitutes in the brothels that cooked this pasta of pungent ingredients to create a strong aroma to cover their scents and to have a quick meal between clients. The story I prefer is that of an Italian chef who needed to cook a quick meal for some late hungry customers and had few ingredients on hand. As a result, he was forced to “facci una puttanata qualsiasi” (make any kind of garbage). He had tomatoes, olives, and capers, which he used to make the base sauce for the pasta dish, and this delicious pasta was born here from necessity.
There is no doubt this dish is borne from some rather pungent ingredients: anchovy, capers, olives, garlic. These ingredients melt together with the tomato, though, to create a very well balanced and flavorful dish!
Ingredients
¼ cup olive oil
1 heaping tsp anchovy paste
1 tsp crushed red pepper
5 cloves of garlic, smashed and thinly sliced
1 28 oz can whole, peeled tomatoes
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp salt
1 lb dried Spaghetti
Black pepper, to taste
Handful of chopped parsley
¼ cup olive oil
1 heaping tsp anchovy paste
1 tsp crushed red pepper
5 cloves of garlic, smashed and thinly sliced
1 28 oz can whole, peeled tomatoes
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp salt
1 lb dried Spaghetti
Black pepper, to taste
Handful of chopped parsley
To make the sauce:
Open the can of tomatoes. Remove each tomato one by one and gently squeeze each in your fist a little bit over the can to release the liquid from the tomato (but make sure you catch it back into the can. You don’t want to lose it!). Place the gently squeezed tomatoes into a bowl and reserve the rest of the liquid in the can. You will need it later.
Open the can of tomatoes. Remove each tomato one by one and gently squeeze each in your fist a little bit over the can to release the liquid from the tomato (but make sure you catch it back into the can. You don’t want to lose it!). Place the gently squeezed tomatoes into a bowl and reserve the rest of the liquid in the can. You will need it later.
In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is hot, add the anchovy paste, and stir until it is fully melted into the oil, about 1-2 minutes. Next, add the crushed red pepper, stir, and allow it to cook for about a minute. Note: if you want to omit the spice from the dish, leave the crushed red pepper out.
Add the garlic and allow it to cook for a minute in the oil. Now add the olives and the capers and allow them to cook for about 2-3 minutes. Crush the canned tomatoes with you hand or a potato masher in the bowl they are currently in and then add the crushed tomatoes into the Dutch oven. Let the crushed tomatoes cook for about 5 minutes, stirring every so often as needed. Lastly, add the tomato juices from the can. Stir, cover, and allow the sauce to come to a simmer. Once simmering, cover, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
To make the spaghetti:
Fill a medium sized stock pot ½ to ⅔ of the way full with water. Bring to a simmer and then add 2 tablespoons of salt. Yes, two full tablespoons. You want to make salt water; it should be salty like the sea. Stir the water to make sure the salt is dissolved and then add in the dried spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti for about 10-12 minutes, until it is al dente.
Fill a medium sized stock pot ½ to ⅔ of the way full with water. Bring to a simmer and then add 2 tablespoons of salt. Yes, two full tablespoons. You want to make salt water; it should be salty like the sea. Stir the water to make sure the salt is dissolved and then add in the dried spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti for about 10-12 minutes, until it is al dente.
When the sauce and spaghetti are both ready, remove the pasta from the heat. Do not drain it; instead, use a pasta spoon or slotted spoon to remove the spaghetti from the water, allowing the excess water to drain from each spoonful, and then place it into the pot of sauce. Do this until all of the spaghetti has been placed in the sauce.
Toss the pasta and sauce together. At this point, add black pepper to taste and add the chopped parsley. Stir the pasta more in incorporate. Once fairly well blended together, fill a ladle full of pasta water (the water the pasta was cooking in) and add that water to the pasta and sauce. Stir it all together. Once everything is well mixed and the sauce has adhered well to the spaghetti, the pasta is done.
To serve, place a reasonable portion of the spaghetti on a plate or in a pasta bowl. Enjoy!