Pasta Puttanesca is a flavor-packed Italian classic that is simple to make in only a few steps with pantry essentials. Puttanesca sauce is a unique, distinctive sauce made with canned tomatoes, capers, anchovies, and olives. I love using the best ingredients I can find to make this trusty family favorite.
Why this Recipe Works
You can’t go wrong with a fantastic pasta dish, and this one comes together quickly!
This puttanesca sauce consists of a rich tomato base made by combining both canned tomatoes and tomato paste, then mixed with capers, anchovies and olives. The sauce combines savory and salty elements in just the right amount.
I like to add red pepper flakes for an slight spicy kick which really takes the flavors of the dish to a great place.
As for the pasta, I usually use a thinner noodle light spaghetti or tagliatelle, as it coats nicely and evenly in the sauce for the perfect bite. You can also use your favorite pasta, ravioli (like this broccoli rabe ravioli), or gnocchi.
Ingredients & Substitutions
anchovies – I prefer to use canned or jarred anchovies for this recipe. You can also use anchovy paste. It can be overwhelming if too much is used, so take care not to overdo it.
olives – traditionally puttanesca uses black olives. I have used both black olives, green olives, and kalamata olives. My personal favorite is kalamata, with black olives coming in second.
How to Make this Recipe
Add your quartered and peeled onion, 1/4 cup of drained capers, 1/2 cup of olives, 4 anchovies, and 1.5 tablespoons of red pepper flakes to a food processor. Pulse the ingredients until they come together into a rough paste.
Next, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan or large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the anchovy mixture from the food processor to the pan and cook it for 8-10 minutes, stirring the sauce regularly, until the mixture is cooked. In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to the boil for the pasta. Season with salt.
Once cooked through, add in the can of crushed tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste to the pan and mix to incorporate them into the sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer it while you are waiting for your pasta to cook.
In the large pot, add your pasta to the boiled water and cook until it is al dente. Once cooked, strain the pasta and add it to the simmering sauce. Toss gently to thoroughly coat the pasta in the sauce.
To serve, you can add some extra halved olives, capers, and freshly grated parmesan.
More Homemade Pasta Sauces
If you love pasta as much as I do, try some of these favorite sauces:
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Pasta Puttanesca Recipe
Print Recipe SaveIngredients
- 1 yellow onion peeled and quartered
- 1/4 cup capers drained
- 1/2 cup black or kalamata olives drained
- 4 anchovies rinsed patted dry to remove excess oil
- 1.5 tbsp red pepper flakes
- 28 oz. crushed tomatoes can
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb. pasta
- basil to garnish
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil.
- While you wait, add the yellow onion, capers, olives, anchovies/sardines, and red pepper flakes to a food processor. Process until smooth.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the contents of the food processor and cook 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to boil and simmer until your pasta is cooked.
- Add your pasta to the boiling water. Cook until al dente. Drain and add to the sauce. Toss to coat.
- Optional: Stir in a handful of basil leaves.
I tried a different puttanesca recipe a few weeks ago and was pretty disappointed…so I decided to try again and used your recipe — AMAZING. I’ve had pasta puttanesca in the past at restaurants and always loved it, but never tried making it at home. This was phenomenal! I made it with spaghettini.
The ONLY thing I might change in the future is the amount of crushed red pepper…I love spicy food, but it was just a tad too much. Maybe just one tablespoon or a heaping tablespoon for me. Though I will say, the spice had definitely mellowed out a bit by the next night when I had it leftover and then it was perfect.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share, Laura… I’m glad you loved it!
1 1/2 Tablespoons of red pepper flakes? That’sounds REALLY hot
It’s a hot one :)… you can use less if you’d like, but this is my preference. The same amount of spice as an arrabiata sauce.
I roast all the veggies in olive oil for 20-25 minutes. Can’t beat the wonderful flavors. Into the food processor & pulse. The recipe you have is NOT Italian. Sorry!!!
Roasting the tomatoes from scratch is a great way to make this recipe… this one is definitely a shortcut version that is Italian-inspired!
This is one of my favs. I was a little confused by the instructions to put everything in food processor
Instead of chopping the anchovies, garlic, olives, and onion, I pulse them in a food processor to get them uniformly chopped. I do keep them a little chunky :)… hope this helps!
Great recipe but omit the cheese. It doesn’t go with these flavors
Glad you liked it! The cheese is 100% optional.