Author: Susanne at dishwithme.com
This dish sort of looks like spaghetti, but it doesn’t taste like spaghetti. Like at all. This recipe for Pasta Puttanesca is very tasty and herby with a hint of spice. The choice is yours, you can choose to make it really spicy, tone it down, or completely omit the red pepper flakes. The choice is all yours.
I love having a variety of pasta recipes to choose from because they are typically very quick and easy to prepare without a lot of fuss and muss, making them perfect for a weeknight meal.
HELPFUL HINTS FOR PASTA PUTTANESCA
Be sure you do not overcook the pasta. If you do not overcook the pasta, you can use tongs to remove it directly from the pot and straight into the sauce without rinsing or worry of it overcooking. If you do cook the pasta longer than necessary, you will need to pour the pasta into a colander and give it a good long rinse with cold water to be sure the cooking process is stopped.
Don’t leave the anchovies out of the recipe because they don’t sound good. Put on your grown up chefy pants, er, apron, and try it. You really won’t even know the anchovies are there, they simply add flavor. The recipe calls for them to be mashed, so you will never bite into one.
There are several salty items in this dish, so, if you are sensitive to salt, wait until the end of the cooking process and only add the salt if needed.
Also remember, that Kosher salt has a less harsh salt flavor. Regular everyday table salt is salty, whereas Kosher salt enhances the flavors of food.
This recipe calls for black olives, but I use a certain type of green olive. The green olive I use is not the tart type of green olive that you may be used to, but is located in the store right next to the canned black olives. This type of green olive is not tart at all, quite the opposite, actually. If you were to close your eyes and taste this special green olive, you would never know it was a green olive, you would, no doubt, think it was a mild black olive. They are smooth and almost buttery. My favorite brand is the 365 brand from Whole Foods.
GROCERY LIST
- Spaghetti, or pasta of your choice
- EVOO
- Grape or cherry tomatoes
- Black olives (or the green ones I mentioned)
- Capers
- Anchovie fillets
- Dried basil
- Herbs de Provence
- Red pepper flakes
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Canned crushed tomatoes
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black or multi flavored pepper
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil and/or parsley – optional
OTHER RECIPES TO ENJOY
Some of my THE BEST ROASTED GARLIC slathered on some French bread and butter would pair amazingly well with this dish.
You might try some SIMPLE SAUTEED MUSHROOMS as a yummy side to this main dish.
Since you’ve got dinner covered, some APPLE CINNAMON MINI MUFFINS for dessert would be quite nice.
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A large pot will come in handy for boiling the pasta.
A nice large pan will give you plenty of room for making the sauce. At the time of this post this item had a 10% off coupon attached to it. I don’t know how long that will last.
I ALWAYS use this exact microplane to grate my garlic. I use this tool almost daily. I use it for things other than garlic, like; lemon zest, parmesan cheese, etc..
Equipment
- Large Pot for pasta
- large pan for making the sauce
- Microplane for grating the fresh garlic cloves
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons EVOO
- 12-20 Grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 3-4 Anchovie fillets chopped and smashed
- 20 Black olives cut in half
- 2 Tablespoons Capers
- 2 teaspoons Dried basil
- 1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
- Pinch dried red pepper flakes or to taste
- 4 Cloves fresh garlic finely grated
- 28 ounce Crushed tomatoes I like fire roasted
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt or to taste
- 30 grinds Freshly ground black pepper or to taste
- 16 ounces Spaghetti noodles cooked per package instructions, making sure to add 2 Tablespoons EVOO and some Kosher salt
- Parsmesan cheese for topping, freshly grated is best
- Fresh basil or parsley for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Cook pasta per package instructions with the addition of 2 tablespoons EVOO and a teaspoon of Kosher salt.
- While the water is coming to a boil and the pasta cooking, in a separate large skillet/pan, on medium-high heat, heat EVOO.
- Once EVOO is heated, add the halved grape tomatoes. Cook, stirring often, for 1 to 2 minutes until there is a slight char to the tomatoes, then add the smashed anchovie fillets, black (or green) olives, capers, basil, herbs de Provence, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2 minutes. Next add the grated garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add Kosher salt and pepper. Turn to low/medium-low and let simmer 10 minutes.
- Once the sauce is finished simmering and the pasta is finished cooking, use tongs to transfer the pasta to the sauce. Mix well.
- Top with parmesan cheese.
- Garnish with diced fresh basil and/or fresh parsley, if desired.
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was
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you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
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