You'll find this pasta Puttanesca sauce recipe simple and fast to prepare. It's the perfect, easy dinner when you are in a hurry but need something healthy and nutritious.
My understanding of its orgins is that it is intended to be an easy dish thrown together from ingredients in your pantry.
If you aren't Italian, then perhaps you don't have all these ingrediants to hand, so feel free to substitute with something else where you need to.
Mind you, it's worth stocking up on things like bottled or tinned tomatoes, olives, anchovies, and capers as they are handy to add some zing to a many different dishes. You can easily substitute canned tomatoes, bottled crushed garlic and chilli in this recipe if you need to.
Fresh herbs are always best, but you can even buy those bottled or in a tube if you really must. Dried herbs aren't going to work in this dish, it's too quick.
Note:
This is just the sauce recipe. You'll need to decide on the pasta you want to use with it and how much you will need. Try it with linguini or fettuccine pasta.
The recipe will make enough for 4 people as a main course and is best eaten straight away.
pasta puttanesca sauce
PREPARATION TIME: 10 MINUTES
COOKING TIME: 10 TO 15 MINUTES
SERVES: 4
¼ cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped (discard the seeds first)
6 very ripe tomatoes, diced
a handful of olives (about ½ cup, and I like Kalamata)
6 anchovy fillets (rinse and pat dry if salted, or just drain if in oil), chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons (to taste) of capers, drained.
a good handful of parsley (the flat leafed kind), roughly chopped
a handful of basil leaves - choose small leaves so you don't have to tear them up.
salt and pepper to taste
Take a heavy frying pan and heat the oil. Keep it to a medium heat and add the garlic and chilli. Stir it constantly so the garlic doesn't burn. You just want to release the flavors, so a minute should do it.
Add the tomatoes and let it cook for about 5 minutes. It's best not to leave it, just keep stirring it around so the tomatoes will soften, and thcken but not catch on the bottom of the pan,
Add the olives, anchovies and capers. Keep stirring for another 5 minutes. Toss in the herbs and take it off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and stir it gently through.
As soon as your pasta is cooked, drained and back in its cooking pot, pour the Puttanesca sauce over the top and toss it through. Do this over a low heat or it will be too cool at serving.
Serve in your favorite pasta bowls with a scattering of extra basil or parsley leaves over the top.
Pasta Puttanesca Sauce: Add it to your own list of easy dinner recipes.
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