Penne Puttanesca
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 12:38PM 
After a day of rain yesterday (it’s supposed to be spring!) I wanted supper to be robust and intense in flavour, but also a simple affair for a Friday night. The result was Penne Puttanesca: a relatively modern Italian dish, this rich and musky sauce has a colourful heritage and has been a firm favourite of mine for years. There is something truly delightful about the combination of salty, heady anchovies, fragrant garlic, tangy olives and rich, robust chilli; it makes a sauce that, although simple on paper, tastes incredibly complex on the tongue.
Whores pasta, as it is otherwise known, is a variable dish: some use the basic premise of garlic, chilli, olives and anchovies and then add peppers, others oregano; the most common addition are shallots or onions – a base that increases the musky intensity of the sauce. According to some sources its history is not quite as wanton as its name might suggest – some believe it to be created by an Italian chef in the 1950’s from what lay about in his cupboard or ‘from any old garbage’ "facci una puttanata qualsiasi"; others believe that it stems from the fact that Italian prostitutes in the 1950’s were only allowed one day per week for shopping, and their time was valuable and so their specialty became a sauce made quickly from odds and ends in the larder - unfortunately the history of food is not an exact science, and so there seems no real agreement as to where its true origins lies.
Whatever its past, I love this sauce and my particular leaning is towards using just the garlic, chilli, anchovies, capers and olives to make it and then adding a good handful of fresh parsley and a scattering of toasted pine nuts: their sweet, nuttiness adds a buttery contrast to all that saltiness, while the parsley adds colour and freshness. I believe that traditionally you serve sugo alla puttanesca with spaghetti but I wanted to use penne as its shape and texture is designed to catch as much of the sauce as possible. I recommend using Doves Farm Penn Pasta, its taste and texture is just right for a sauce such as this and you can find my review of this particular make under my new section: Products.
PENNE PUTTANESCA
Serves 4
400g penne pasta (I use Doves Farm Gluten Free Maize & Rice Penne )
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
75g good quality pitted black olives
50g capers, drained
3 tbsp olive oil
4 anchovy fillets (from a deli is best)
1 small red chilli
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of soft brown sugar
½ tbsp lemon juice
A medium sized bunch of curly leaf parsley
Prepare the sauce by peeling the garlic clove and, roughly chop the chilli and place in a food processor with the anchovies, blitz until you have a fine pulp. Alternatively, crush the garlic clove and finely chop the chilli and anchovy fillets until minced and pulpy. Slice the olives in to thin rounds (about four rounds per olive) and finely chop the parsley, set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy based pan and pour in the minced chilli, garlic and anchovies. Sauté gently for a few minutes, so that the garlic starts to soften, and then pour over the tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and add in the lemon juice and brown sugar, season well, re-cover and leave to simmer gently while you cook the pasta.
Heat a large vat of salted water until at a rolling boil. Tip in the penne and give the pasta an initial stir to ensure it doesn’t stick. Cook for around 8 minutes (follow the packet guidelines) or until al dente in texture, drain the pasta and add it to the puttanesca sauce along with the sliced olives, capers and parsley. Give the whole mixture a gentle stir to ensure everything is combined and the penne is coated in sauce and then serve.
Anchovies, Brown Sugar, Capers, Chilli, Garlic, Lemons, Olives, Parsley, Pasta, Tomatoes in Pasta, Suppers, dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, wheat-free, yeast-free
Reader Comments (4)
I really loved the subtle, salty strength of the sauce oozing all over the pasta - It definitely gets the tastebuds going! If the original Italian "lady of the night" version was even half as good as this, it's no wonder that the punters went back for seconds. ;-)
Ha ha C.B that is a utterly brilliant comment. I am so glad that you enjoyed it, it is one of my favourite Italian dishes and there are so many wonderful one's to choose from! Thanks for commenting.
It was an absolute success.
Wonderful news, Tati. So glad that you enjoyed it.
Pippa