Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
L'Arte della Conserva: The Late August Tomato Ritual
This isn't a delicate Sunday gravy that demands hours of quiet simmering, but a fast, loud pantry-raid where capers, tomatoes, and a tin of oil-packed anchovies—the briny backbone of the Italian pantry—hit a heavy skillet. This Laziale version melts anchovies into the base for an explosion of deep, undeniable umami, bound by one strict rule: never boil your olives, or they'll turn fiercely bitter. It takes fifteen minutes. Pull the spaghetti a minute early and finish it directly in the hot pan.
Ingredients
- imported bronze-die dried spaghetti1 lb
- extra-virgin olive oil1/4 cup
- garlic cloves2 large
- oil-packed anchovy fillets5
- crushed red pepper flakes1 tsp
- whole peeled San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes1 28-oz can
- Kalamata or Gaeta olives1/2 cup
- capers2 tbsp
- fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley1 handful
- Kosher salt3 tbsp
Method
- 01
Infuse the olive oil with the smashed garlic.
Heat the oil and unpeeled garlic in a large skillet over medium-low heat until the garlic is deeply golden and fragrant, about 3 minutes, then discard the cloves to leave behind a sweet perfume without the harsh bite.
- 02
Melt the anchovies into the garlic-infused oil.
Add the anchovy fillets and red pepper flakes to the warm oil, mashing them aggressively with a wooden spoon until they dissolve completely into a savory paste.
- 03
Simmer and reduce the crushed tomatoes.
Pour the hand-crushed tomatoes and their juices into the skillet, increase the heat to medium, and let the sauce bubble gently for 10 to 12 minutes to concentrate the sugars.
- 04
Boil the spaghetti in heavily salted water until exceptionally al dente.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, salt it until it tastes like the sea, and cook the pasta for two minutes less than the package instructions dictate.
- 05
Fold the olives and capers into the sauce at the very end of cooking.
Never add olives early or the prolonged heat will break down their cellular structure and turn the sauce fiercely bitter; they only need about three minutes in the pan to warm through and release their oils.
- 06
Toss the undercooked pasta directly in the skillet to emulsify the sauce.
Use tongs to drag the dripping pasta into the sauce, add a half cup of starchy pasta water, and stir vigorously over medium-high heat until the sauce becomes glossy and clings perfectly to the noodles.
- 07
Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.
Remove the skillet from the heat, toss in the fresh chopped parsley, and serve straight from the pan.
Notes
Leave the cheese in the fridge.
Authentic Italian seafood and anchovy pastas are never served with Parmesan or Pecorino; the salinity of the olives, capers, and anchovies is already perfectly balanced.
Avoid sliced canned black olives.
Pre-sliced canned black olives are often treated with ferrous gluconate and lack flavor. Buy whole, unpitted olives in brine from the deli counter and pit them yourself.
From Cook Italian in America.