Alla puttanesca means, literally, “prostitute style.” The theory is that hard-working ladies of the night made this dish to revive their flagging spirits. However, folks in the know claim that puttanesca was actually invented in the 1950s on the island of Ischia, off Naples, when a bon vivant and restaurateur named Sandro Petti pulled it all together to serve to his friends who were all what Italians call i veep—very important people. Be that as it may, it’s a delicious, savory, and easy dish, perfect for spur-of-the-moment summertime cooking. Spaghetti or linguine are often used with this sauce, or maccheroni—not American elbow macaroni, but rather a short, hollow pasta, slightly curved, and often ridged on the outside.
The tomatoes used on Ischia and around Napoli are pomodori a piennolo, small tomatoes raised without much irrigation, which gives them tough skins and incredibly sweet interiors.* You might come across similar tomatoes in a farmers’ market, but if not, we recommend plum tomatoes (San Marzano, Amish Paste, and Roma are popular varieties found in farmers’ markets and farm stands), our standbys for most fresh tomato sauces because they have greater ratios of flesh to juice. If you can’t find plum tomatoes, look for tomatoes with a heavy, dense heft to them, indicating a good quantity of flesh. And of course they must be as fresh and ripe as they get—preferably straight from the garden to the kitchen.
We like small Gaeta olives, but almost any black olives will do, including wrinkled salted black olives or Greek Kalamata olives—anything, that is, but the so-called California-style canned black olives, which have no flavor at all.
SERVES 6
1 medium red or yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped
½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 pounds very ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon dried Sicilian or Greek oregano, crumbled (optional)
Pinch sugar, if needed
2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and chopped if very large
1 cup pitted and coarsely chopped black olives (see headnote)
Freshly ground black pepper
About 1 pound (500 grams) linguine, spaghetti, or maccheroni
First make the sauce: Combine the onion and garlic and chop together to a finer texture. Add to a skillet with the oil and a good pinch of salt, stir to mix, and set over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft. Do not let them brown.
When the vegetables are thoroughly wilted, add the anchovy pieces to the center of the skillet and continue cooking, pressing and crushing the anchovies into the oil in the pan. Add half the parsley, reserving the rest to garnish the finished dish.
Now add the tomatoes and raise the heat slightly. Continue cooking and stirring until the tomatoes have released their juice and then, as the juice reduces, the tomato flesh itself will collapse into a jam. About halfway through the cooking, add the oregano (if using) and stir it in. If the tomatoes are not perfectly vine ripened, a pinch of sugar will help to boost the flavors.
Remove the tomato sauce from the heat and stir in the capers and olives. Taste the sauce for seasoning, adding salt and plenty of pepper. If the sauce is finished before the pasta is done, keep it hot while the pasta cooks—the ideal, of course, is to have the pasta and the sauce ready at the same time, but it’s no big deal if the sauce is done first.
While the sauce is cooking, bring about 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add a big spoonful of salt and the pasta, giving it a stir with a long-handled spoon. Cook following the directions here, until al dente.
Have ready a warm serving bowl. Drain the pasta and immediately turn it into the warm bowl. Spoon the hot sauce over the top and garnish with the remaining parsley. Mix the sauce and the pasta together at the table and serve immediately.
VARIATION When you have a good supply of fresh basil, use it instead of, or along with, the parsley.