Made this last night and it was unbelievable. I used a 24 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Put a whole can of anchovies (drained), capers, and olives in the mini chopper and added that to sauce. In just 30 minutes, the sauce was done and the house smelled like an italian restaurant. My husband couldn't believe I made "homemade" sauce that quickly. This is truly wonderful.
Ay yo! This is a great puttanesca sauce!!! Took a break from the usual Sunday gravy and made this...loved it! I made a whole pound of macaroni...so I doubled the recipe. I followed it pretty close except I used two 14.5oz cans of diced tomatoes and and 8oz can of tomato sauce instead of using the sieve, and I used half kalamotta and half greek olives. Those of you who think there is too much olive oil...that's what puttanesca is supposed to be like. It is not supposed to be tomatoey and sweet like marinara. Puttanesca should be bitter and spicy...and that's just what this is. Thanks for an incredible recipe! This one goes into my rotation. And oh yeah, and thanks for the gut...a pound I ate in two days!
I made this recipe for a dinner party for 9 people. All of them raved about the sauce.
I did not push the tomatoes through a sieve, but left them chopped coarse. Added a few chopped sundried tomatoes, which helped to thicken the sauce a bit. Made a nice addition, but the sauce would have been fine without them.
I also scaled back the olive oil a bit.
Overall, a keeper of a recipe. I can't wait to serve it again!
This recipe has become one of my favorite dishes to serve for any occasion. I usually can't stand olives or anchovies, but love them in this. I chop the tomatoes in the food processer rather than pushing them through a seive, and substitute anchovy paste for filets. The ratio of ingredients is pretty flexible, but I wouldn't recommend leaving any ingredients out completely...I made it without the anchovy for a vegetarian friend and the flavor was completely different (good, but nothing like the original). Also, keep in mind that the flavors are strong and will be overpowering if you put too much on your pasta (use half as much as you would if it were a marinara sauce). This may be the reason that so many reviews say that the sauce is too salty or the olive/caper taste is too strong.
Outstanding! I saw this being made on a cooking show and had to make it since my husband and I LOVE olives, anchovies, and capers. True, the sauce is a bit salty because of these ingredients, but a little sauce goes a long way in flavor! **** UPDATE 3/14/08 ***** I made this with sea bass last night and it was delicious. On foilm I laid down some lemon slices, topped with the fish, then the puttanesca sauce. Fold the foil up to make a pouch and bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes. The puttanesca sauce compliments the fish. Excellent recipe!
This was delicious! I cut back just a smidge on the oil used a 15oz can of petite diced tomatoes (we like it chunky!) instead of fresh added an extra clove of garlic and used regular black olives - presliced from a can since that's what I had on hand. Otherwise all ingredients and amounts were left as written. I did add the chopped anchovies to the oil while I sauteed the garlic so they basically "melted" away and just left the flavor. This was so good I couldn't stop eating it! Even my husband commented on how good it was! (I didn't tell him it had anchovies until after he raved about it.:) I'm usually very sensitive to saltiness but this was fine - not too salty at all. I did rinse the anchovies before using them so maybe that did it. This will definitely be a regular in our house - thanks so much!
This is as good as it gets, frankly.
This is a WONDERFUL pasta dish to have in the weekly rotation.
Only made two adjustments: reduced the olive oil to 1/3 cup rather than 1/2 cup (but that's just a personal preference) and to make things easier I simply used two cups of canned Imported Italian Crushed Tomatoes.
Oh, and I STRONGLY SUGGEST using a fetucini pasta as it is the perfect size and consistency for absorbing and mopping up this yummy sauce.
I would imagine that this would make an excellent dipping sauce with crostini as well as a nice sauce to pour over fish or chicken.
Don't hesitate to make this one!!!!
This recipe allows you to enjoy a puttanesca that is finer than any we've enjoyed at many top Italian restaurants. Try it with a good Zinfandel for optimum enjoyment. For those that are calorie conscience feel free to cut back on the olive oil. We used 1/8 cup and will use less next time around. We'll enjoy this dish again and again.
This recipe is very flavorful, quick, easy cleanup, and uses ingredients that I keep onhand. For those pitting Greek olives, try pitted Kalamata Olives. I substituted anchovy paste for anchovies - just because I keep the paste onhand, but not anchovies. We'll enjoy this dish again and again.
i hae been making this for years! my favorite easy fabulous recipe. I use Kalamata olives and more garlic. I also let the tomatoes simmer until thick. be generous with the capers! I absolutely love this sauce and i accompany it with a homemade cesar salad!
