An authentic spaghetti alla Puttanesca Sauce recipe or Suggo all Puttanesca, made with anchovies, capers and black olives. A favorite Italian classic pasta dish!
What is Puttanesca Sauce or Suggo all Puttanesca ?
An incredibly flavorful, traditional Southern Italian tomato sauce “ in the style of a prostitute” , dating back to the 20th century. How is that for a history lesson ? You are welcome kids 😉
Traditionally served with spaghetti, the sauce gets its flavor from lots of garlic, stinky anchovies, black olives and capers. The secret here is to not get stingy with any of the ingredients. Unless you wanna go vegan of course, in which case you can forget about the anchovies and use a pinch of dulse flakes instead.
I like to think of it as a loaded Marinara or Arrabbiata sauce that you can make with fresh or canned San Marzano tomatoes.
How to make the Best Puttanesca:
- Saute lost of garlic, red pepper flakes and anchovies in a little olive oil.
- Add olives, tomatoes and oregano and cook them down into a hearty, thick sauce.
- Toss with spaghetti and sprinkle with more olives and parsley.
Clearly it doesn’t get much easier in the kitchen than making a pot of sauce to toss with pasta, right?! Yet you still have to keep an eye on it during cooking, as tomatoes have a lot of beautiful natural sugars that will burn easily If you walk away from it for too long without stirring, or if the flame is too high.
Recipe Tips:
- Cook your sauce slowly, on low flame.
- Stir often with a wooden spoon so it doesn’t stick and burn.
- Make more than you need because you will want leftovers!
Easy Italian recipes are my favorite go to for my weeknight dinners, but this classic puttanesca sauce is also worthy of gracing your dinner table for Sunday supper with the family.
Puttanesca Sauce Recipe (Spaghetti alla Puttanesca)
Ingredients
- 1 oz x 28 can San Marzano tomatoes
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 7 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes or to taste
- 2 tbsp capers
- 8 anchovies
- 3/4 c black olives sliced
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano or 1 dry
- 1/4 c Italian parsley roughly chopped
- sea salt to taste
- 3/4 lb spaghetti
Instructions
- In a heavy bottom pot add a lug of olive oil over low flame.
- Add the anchovies and red pepper flakes to the olive oil and sauté for about two minutes until the anchovies start to melt into the oil.
- Stir in the garlic and stir well taking good care not to burn it. Add half of the black olives and the capers and cook for about 15 seconds or so.
- Use your hands to roughly crush the San Marzano tomatoes and add them to the pot together with the oregano. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Partially cover the sauce with a lid and let it cook down for about 35 minutes until reduced and thickened to your liking. Stir often.
- Remove the sauce from flame and adjust seasonings to your taste with the sea salt.
- Meanwhile cook the spaghetti al dente and toss them with the puttanesca sauce.
- Serve hot, garnished with the remaining olives and fresh parsley.
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