While also known as ulive e chiapparielle (olives and capers) in the local dialect, puttanesca pasta is famous for its name, even outside of Italy. Theories abound as to how the sauce – derived from the Italian word puttana (whore) – got its name, though none have been proven. Some believe the name was adopted at the beginning of the 20th century, as this dish was a particular favorite with patrons of a brothel in Naples' Spanish quarter. Others suggest the colorful moniker evokes the colorful olive- and tomato-colored dresses worn by some of the showier women, while another theory posits that the recipe was invented by Yvette-la-Française, a prostitute from Provence who paid tribute to the world’s oldest profession with this name.
Puttanesca Pasta Ingredients
Puttanesca sauce requires capers, black olives, hot pepper, garlic, parsley, anchovies, and ripe vine tomatoes. Don’t swap the latter for canned, bottled sauce, or diced tomatoes – fresh tomatoes reap the best result.
Garlic is another important ingredient. Depending on preference, it's advised to use one or two cloves per pound of pasta.
For the pasta, we recommend a long pasta like spaghetti, which is what the traditional recipe calls for, but you can use any pasta of your choice.
Pasta alla Puttanesca Recipe
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch the tomatoes for a couple of minutes. Drain the tomatoes, peel them, remove the seeds, and then cut into cubes. In a frying pan, brown one or two chopped garlic cloves in olive oil with 1 Tbsp. desalted capers, a few well-rinsed salt-packed anchovies, a handful of pitted black olives, and some fresh hot pepper.
After a few minutes, add the chopped tomatoes with a little salt and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. In the meantime, add salt to the water in which you cooked the tomatoes and cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain the spaghetti then add it to the pan with the sauce.
Sauté everything together for a minute and top with fresh chopped parsley.