Pasta Puttanesca is one of our favorite date night dinners! The ultra flavorful sauce is made with anchovies,capers, olives, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes! You can use any variety of pasta you have on hand, but we love this sauce best with spaghetti or penne!
Pasta Puttanesca Recipe
I know what you’re thinking.
“What is that? Pasta?! Pasta… seriously? It’s December 8th! Where’s the cookies, lady? And the pie. And the edible gifts you should be putting up here right now!” And you’re right; I’ve been holding out.
It’s just… I need real food. You do too. One cannot live on candy canes alone. So let’s put the paper snowflakes, holiday cookies, and dozens of cards that need mailing to the side for just a minute, and talk about tonight. More importantly, what you should have for dinner tonight!
Pasta Puttanesca is an ideal weeknight meal; add a bottle of wine and a loaf of crusty bread and you’re golden! Maybe a salad if you’re looking to health it up a bit.
Strands of spaghetti swim in a spicy sauce with some very flavorful friends. Capers, olives, anchovies, garlic, and red pepper flakes promise to be anything but boring!
Fact: keep mints close by if you’re making this for someone special… anchovies and garlic do unkind things in the fresh breath department.
Go get your pasta on, and I’ll see you soon… with cookies.
AND IF YOU TRY THIS PASTA PUTTANESCA RECIPE, LET ME KNOW! LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND DON’T FORGET TO SNAP A PIC AND TAG IT #BAKERBYNATURE ON INSTAGRAM! SEEING YOUR KITCHEN CREATIONS MAKES OUR DAY.
More Pasta Recipes:
Pasta Puttanesca
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 6 servings
Pasta Puttanesca is one of our favorite date night dinners! The ultra flavorful sauce is made with anchovies,capers, olives, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes! You can use any variety of pasta you have on hand, but we love this sauce best with spaghetti or penne!
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 ounces) dried pasta
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- (1) 2 ounce tin flat anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, more if needed
Instructions
- Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium-heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add in the garlic, anchovies, oregano, and crushed pepper to skillet and saute the mixture until the anchovies have dissolved entirely and the garlic is slightly golden, about 2 minutes.
- Add olives, capers, tomatoes, white wine, black pepper, and parsley. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat, and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes. Toss in the basil and salt and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- While the sauce simmers, cook your pasta.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil, add a dash of salt then add in the pasta and cook according to package instructions.
- When the pasta is finished cooking, drain well then add it to the sauce and toss to combine.
- Plate and top with cheese, if desired.
Courses Dinner
Cuisine Italian
Love puttanesca! The best part is what the name actually means in Italian…”whore’s style spaghetti” Who can’t love it with a name like that?! haha
Yea yea, slutty pasta! I love it.
Well, I can’t say anything because I posted pasta as well today. Girl’s gotta eat, right? This looks really delicious though, I’m loving the ingredients you used. But, I am looking forward to those holiday cookie recipes. 😉
i am HUNGRY now. you are so right: we need real food, I {with an intended capital letter} need real food. i love your text accompanying your lovely pics and i will follow your blog right now, it’s about time 😉
With all the cakes and cookies floating in the blogosphere right now, it’s refreshing to see something different! Love pasta and your recipe sounds like a winner.
lol, “slutty pasta” ^^ 😀
I love anchovies in pasta so much… you know I don’t think I ever had a puttanesca sauce, per se, but it’s got all the marks of a great meal… especially judging by the first pic there! Yum 🙂
You’d love this!
Ok. one, we can live on candies alone!!! but once i saw the ingredients laid out…. two… this is REAL food… you might make me hate candies…
Love the way this looks! I order this when we are out but haven’t been brave enough to try to make it.
No bravery needed! It’s SO simple; you should give it a try!
Delicious! Just made a big batch of pasta tonight too. This recipe looks fantastic. And I’m planning to make your butternut squash with shallots and sage for a dinner party this week. 🙂
I hope you love it! Let me know how it turns out! xx
Never heard of puttanesca before, but I can tell I would love it! I mean, pasta, garlic, capers, and tomatoes?!
Bookmarking… 😀
I just found your site this morning and this looks incredibly delicious along with so many recipes that I look forward to trying!
Just made this – Absolutely delicious!
Delicious! Just made a big batch of pasta tonight too. This recipe looks fantastic. And I’m planning to make your butternut squash with shallots and sage for a dinner party this week.
wow nice recipe.
Love the way this looks! I order this when we are out but haven’t been brave enough to try to make it.
Great!Just made this – Absolutely delicious!
Made this tonight. It turned out great. I dont like capers or olives, but they added the correct flavor and I wanted to branch out. Its like a salty briney regular red sauce. Just enough subtleties to set it apart from traditional red sauce.