Spaghetti Puttanesca

Bursting with flavor and so easy to prepare, you’ll be craving this spaghetti puttanesca weekly.

Puttanesca sauce is made of simple pantry staples including canned tomatoes, olive oil, olives, capers, anchovies, chili peppers, and garlic. I love serving this flavorful sauce with spaghetti noodles but it also works with most any type of pasta. This spaghetti puttanesca always pairs nicely with a simple Italian salad and crusty bread.

How to Make Spaghetti Puttanesca

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic, anchovies, and crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 4-5 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and juices along with the olives, basil sprigs, capers, sugar, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.

Simmer the sauce on low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced a bit, about 30 minutes.

Remove & discard the basil sprigs and remove the garlic cloves and chop them up and return to the sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Prepare the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water per package instructions; drain and serve the pasta tossed in the puttanesca sauce. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Puttanesca

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6

Author: Pam - For the Love of Cooking

Equipment

• Large saucepan
• Large pot

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 large cloves of garlic, smashed
• 5-6 anchovy filets
• ¼-½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 (35 oz) can of whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
• ¼ cup kalamata or black olives, sliced **I used half kalamata olives & half black olives
• 2 large sprigs of fresh basil
• Pinch of sugar, to taste
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 1 lb spaghetti, cooked to al dente in salted water, per package instructions
• Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic, anchovies, and crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 4-5 minutes. 
• Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomatoes and juices along with the olives, basil sprigs, capers, sugar, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.
• Simmer the sauce on low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced a bit, about 30 minutes.
• Remove & discard the basil sprigs and remove the garlic cloves and chop them up and return to the sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. 
• Prepare the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water per package instructions; drain and serve the pasta tossed in the puttanesca sauce.
• Top with chopped parsley, if desired. Enjoy!

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