SPAGHETTI PUTTANESCA – Recipe by Piero Benigni – It’s a simple, hot and tasty dish made with cheap ingredients in about 25 minutes. It is popular everywhere in Italy, either in home cooking and in trattorias or restaurants. Let’s see how to prepare it with the original recipe.
Ingredients for 2 persons
- 170 gspaghetti (6 oz)
- 200 gpeeled tomatoes (7 oz)
- 20olives (black or brown)
- 1 spooncapers (in salt or in vinegar)
- 1anchovies in oil (1/2 oz (2 fillets))
- 2 clovesgarlic
- 2 spoonscheese (parmesan or pecorino, 1 oz, optional)
- q.s.parsley
- q.s.chilli
- 3 spoonsolive oil
- 1/2 teaspoonsugar
Tools for spaghetti puttanesca
- Cooker
- Pot
- Chopping Board
- Knife
- Pot
- Wooden fork
- Colander
- Scale
Recipe by Piero Benigni
This dish will come out better if made with peeled tomatoes rather than with tomato sauce. You can use capers in salt or in vinegar and black or brown olives. First soak the capers for 15 minutes in order to remove salt or vinegar, then squeeze them. Meanwhile chop the parsley, clean the garlic cloves and stone the olives if needed. Chop olives, capers and anchovies all together. The addition of cheese, parmesan or pecorino, is optional. Many don’t but others, including me, do. If you are going to use it, grate 2 spoons of parmigiano or pecorino.
Put 3 spoons of olive oil in the pan over a gentle flame and add half of the chopped parsley, the garlic and the chilly you like. Remember the dish should be quite hot. Let the garlic brown until it starts taking a pale color. Pour the peeled tomatoes into the pan, then mash them with a fork and remove the core if any. Add half a teaspoon of sugar. Cook the tomatoes for 15 minutes, always over a gentle flame because they should only simmer. Stir frequently. Meanwhile put on the stove the pot with water and some salt then switch on the flame and add the spaghetti when the water boils.
After the said 15 minutes remove the garlic cloves from the pan and add the chopped mixture of olives, capers and anchovies. Stir well and taste to check how salty the sauce is. It should not need salt, because the olives and anchovies contain it, otherwise add some. The sauce is ready. Turn off the flame and wait until the spaghetti are well al dente, say after 6 minutes of cooking, then drain and add them into the pan, but save a large cup of the boiling water.
Finish cooking in the pan over a high fire with the help of this water. Stir and/or sauté adding water in small quantities, say 2 spoons at a time, until the spaghetti are at the right point, then turn off the flame and serve spreading the remaining parsley and the cheese (if used) on top. The finished dish should be a little wet and creamy, look at the last photo. Enjoy your meal!
This dish will come out better if made with peeled tomatoes rather than with tomato sauce. You can use capers in salt or in vinegar and black or brown olives. First soak the capers for 15 minutes in order to remove salt or vinegar, then squeeze them. Meanwhile chop the parsley, clean the garlic cloves and stone the olives if needed. Chop olives, capers and anchovies all together. The addition of cheese, parmesan or pecorino, is optional. Many don’t but others, including me, do. If you are going to use it, grate 2 spoons of parmigiano or pecorino.
Put 3 spoons of olive oil in the pan over a gentle flame and add half of the chopped parsley, the garlic and the chilly you like. Remember the dish should be quite hot. Let the garlic brown until it starts taking a pale color. Pour the peeled tomatoes into the pan, then mash them with a fork and remove the core if any. Add half a teaspoon of sugar. Cook the tomatoes for 15 minutes, always over a gentle flame because they should only simmer. Stir frequently. Meanwhile put on the stove the pot with water and some salt then switch on the flame and add the spaghetti when the water boils.
After the said 15 minutes remove the garlic cloves from the pan and add the chopped mixture of olives, capers and anchovies. Stir well and taste to check how salty the sauce is. It should not need salt, because the olives and anchovies contain it, otherwise add some. The sauce is ready. Turn off the flame and wait until the spaghetti are well al dente, say after 6 minutes of cooking, then drain and add them into the pan, but save a large cup of the boiling water.
Finish cooking in the pan over a high fire with the help of this water. Stir and/or sauté adding water in small quantities, say 2 spoons at a time, until the spaghetti are at the right point, then turn off the flame and serve spreading the remaining parsley and the cheese (if used) on top. The finished dish should be a little wet and creamy, look at the last photo. Enjoy your meal!
The chopped olives, anchovies and capers added into the pan
The spaghetti are drained very “al dente” and added into the pan
The dish is ready to be served