Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca by Kusina Maria

I love pasta. And I love tomatoes and tomato-based dishes. Needless to say, I love pasta with tomato-based sauces. And one of the first pasta dishes I learned how to make on my own when I was still in college was Spaghetti alla Puttanesca.

Back then I didn’t even know how to make Pomodoro and other basic sauces and tomato dishes. I didn’t even have knife skills but persevered everytime I was asked to cook Puttanesca. I learned how to make Puttanesca using sun-dried tomatoes. However, sun-dried tomatoes are hard to find and that kind of puttanesca is more oil-based than tomato-based so I developed another recipe using a combination of canned stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and red wine. Yes, I love cooking with red wine.

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca literally means “spaghetti of the whores” in Italian. It is said that this pasta dish was developed and popularized by whores who just grabbed the most accessible ingredients (mostly leftovers) and combined those together to make this dish. Might be composed of leftovers of common Italian ingredients, but it’s certainly not one cheap sauce here in our tropical part of the world.

This pasta dish is supposed to be tangy and spicy with a bit of saltiness from the anchovies. Try my recipe!

Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca

Good for 8 – 10 persons, or 4 – 6 very hungry eaters

Ingredients:

• 400 g spaghetti noodles
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 can (50 – 60 g) anchovies, mashed
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped (approximately 1 can)
• 1/2 cup green or black olives (or a combination of both), minced
• 1 cup stewed tomatoes (approximately 1 can)
• 70 g tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup capers
• salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Prepare the spaghetti noodles al dente based on package instructions.
2. Saute the garlic in olive oil over low to medium heat. Do not brown the garlic.


Sauteeing the Garlic

3. Add the mashed anchovies and saute. Make sure the anchovies are cooked but not burnt


Anchovies

4. Add the mushrooms. Saute.


Sauteeing with the Mushrooms

5. Add the olives. Saute


Sauteeing with the Olives

6. Add stewed tomatoes and stir thoroughly.


Mixing in the Stewed Tomatoes

7. Add the tomato paste and red wine. Simmer for 3 – 5 minutes.


Simmering with Tomato Paste and Red Wine

8. Add the capers. Continue cooking for about a minute.


Stirring in the Capers

9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Toss with the noodles.


Tossing with the Spaghetti Noodles

11. Optional: Top with parmesan cheese and 3 – 5 fresh basil leaves.

Serve with garlic bread or bruschetta.

If you have tried this recipe, do drop me a line with your feedback.