When Jenny noticed that I was making a pasta dish using penne she was surprised. We discussed the noodle and how it is so commonplace that it becomes boring. When one eats and cooks as much pasta as I do, why would I turn to penne for any particular dish? I think it comes down to two reasons: nostalgia and tradition. Before I went into cooking I had made a few trips to Italy with family members. I didn’t know where all the famous restaurants were back then, but what I did know was to find a place that was far from the city center/touristy areas. It was in those little trattorias where I would find perfectly executed yet everyday pasta dishes such as Penne alla Puttanesca. Needless to say, when Jenny tried the pasta she was pleasantly surprised.
The reason I originally fell in love with pasta dishes like this and Italian cooking in general is because when executed properly the dish is balanced. First you bite into an al dente noodle and you think it might be undercooked then as you move through the dish you realize it provides the perfect texture to keep things interesting. The noodle is lightly dressed so that it stands up as an equal to the sauce. The sauce is well thought out. It lightly dresses the noodle while somehow managing to still burst with flavor - which brings me to my next topic - Anchovies.
Poor anchovies, they get a bad rap when all they do is make the world a much more flavorful place. To me, using anchovies (especially in a dish like this) is like using salt, but better. Anchovies are a flavor enhancer. If you don’t like anchovies but can get past the initial smell (or whatever turns you off) and work them into this sauce with the rest of the ingredients I guarantee you won’t even know they are there. When you are eating this pasta all you will know is that there is something delicious that you can taste but you can’t quite put your tongue on it. Deliciousness? Umami? Well, it’s both in and it comes in the form of anchovies.
The foundation of puttanesca is garlic, capers, chilies, anchovies, and olives. These are all ingredients that pack a serious flavor punch and have a very long shelf life. I provide a recipe for a simple tomato sauce but if you have your own on hand this dish will take you as long to make the sauce as it does to cook the pasta. My small contribution to this classic is the use of Calabrian chilies as opposed to dry chili flakes, which add a little more kick and provide more depth of flavor. A jar of these chilies will go a long way, and if you like spice, you will find yourself using it in almost anything you decide to prepare at home. They only have the really large jars on amazon but you should be able to find something smaller at your local Italian market.
-Jimmy
note: there are amazon affiliate links in this post
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Passive Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
people
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- 28 oz can crushed San Marzano (or other high quality tomato)
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 lb penne rigate
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 8 fillets anchovies, rinsed
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 4 tablespoons nicoise olives, pitted and roughly chopped
- 4 teaspoons capers
- 3 tablespoons crushed/chopped Calabrian chilies
- 1/2 cup Italian parsley, thinly sliced
- 2 oz (chunk) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for grating at the end
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus a few tablespoons for finishing the pasta
- reserved pasta water
Ingredients
for the simple tomato sauce
for the pasta
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- in a medium sauce pan over low heat simmer the garlic in the olive oil until it is golden brown on all sides. Remove the garlic and add the tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes. You want it thickened but not as thick as something you might buy in a jar.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil then add salt. It should taste like a really well seasoned soup. In another sauce pot over medium heat add the olive oil and onions. Sweat the onions without getting too much color. Once the onions are tender add the garlic and anchovies and cook for one minute breaking up the anchovies with a wooden spoon until they are incorporated into the garlic and onion. Add the Calabrian chilies and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute. Add the tomatoes, capers, and olives. Keep on low heat until ready to add the pasta. About 1 minute before the pasta is perfectly al dente add it to the sauce and reserve a few cups of pasta water. Over medium heat stir the pasta and sauce together vigorously for 2-3 minutes. Add pasta water if the sauce seems dry. Add regular tap water if it seems like it doesn't need more salt. Work in a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the sliced parsley. Divide the pasta among plates and finish with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
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