Puttanesca sauce has a robust flavor.
It’s a bold and savory Italian sauce made with tomatoes, anchovies, capers, garlic, and olives, perfect for enhancing pasta dishes.
Puttanesca Is a Must-Try Because…
- The capers, olives, and anchovies make this sauce irresistibly delicious.
- This sauce packs a punch of umami flavor.
- Pasta Puttanesca smells and tastes like it’s been simmering for hours but takes less than 30 minutes on the stove.
Ingredients for Puttanesca Sauce
Tomatoes: Choose quality tomatoes like San Marzanos for the best flavor. Squeeze the whole tomatoes in Step 2 to get a rustic texture of smaller and larger pieces.
Capers: Rinse capers before using them to remove unnecessary salt.
Anchovies: Anchovies add the signature briny flavor to a classic puttanesca recipe. Anchovies are preferred, but you can replace them with a bit of miso paste, fish sauce, or even seaweed flakes if needed.
Olives: I prefer black olives but kalamata olives or Castelvetrano are salty, sweet, and meaty.
Pasta: Puttanesca pairs well with almost any kind of pasta. I love spaghetti, bucatini, or penne—thicker kinds of pasta that pasta sauce can cling to.
Variations
- I like to toss in a few red pepper flakes for a subtle spicy kick to the sauce.
- In addition to garlic and red pepper flakes, a little dried oregano, fresh parsley, or fresh basil will add a bright and herb-y flavor to the pasta puttanesca recipe.
How to Make Puttanesca Sauce
- Cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil. Add capers and anchovies and cook.
- Squeeze whole tomatoes into the pan (discard the juices).
- Add crushed tomatoes and olives and simmer (recipe below).
- Season with salt and pepper and serve as desired.
Storing Puttanesca
Keep leftover puttanesca sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze portions in zippered bags for up to one month.
Italian-Inspired Favorites
Pappardelle with Italian Sausage
Garlic Shrimp Pasta
Did you enjoy this Puttanesca Recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below.
Puttanesca
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons capers drained
- 2 anchovy filets diced, more to taste
- 14 ounces canned whole tomatoes 1 can
- 14 ounces crushed tomatoes 1 can
- ¼ cup black olives coarsely chopped, additional for serving if desired
- salt and black pepper to taste
- shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
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Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is tender. Add the capers and anchovy and cook for 2 minutes more.
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Remove the whole tomatoes from the can one by one and squeeze the tomatoes into the pan to break them up, discard the juices (or reserve to add to soup). Add the olives and simmer uncovered for about 6 to 8 minutes or until thickened.
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Taste and season with salt and black pepper.
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Toss with cooked pasta and garnish with parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Sauce
Cuisine American, Italian
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Hi Holly!!! I received my copy of your cookbook last week. I can’t wait to try some of the recipes in there.
I have a question about step 2 in this recipe. It states to crush each tomato by hand into the pan and discard juices. I’m assuming “the pan” is the one the garlic, red pepper flakes, capers and anchovy are cooked in. The next sentence states, ” Add the crushed tomatoes and olives.” Aren’t the crushed tomatoes already in the pan? Or, do I crush them into another container, pour out the juice, and then add them with the olives? I’ve never made Puttanesca before.
So excited that you received your copy of my book, I can’t wait to see what you make first! I apologize for the confusion, the tomatoes are added directly to the pan (less dishes to wash is better ;) ). I’ve updated to clarify!
Like all off your recipes this is a delicious puttanesca. Other than linguine with white clam sauce a puttanesca is my favorite Italian dish. I’m not much of a Parmesan fan so I sub it with a Pecorino Romano…. I’m looking forward to your upcoming book release…
Thanks for the quality recipes.