Napoli-Style Puttanesca with Melted Anchovy and Olives

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A punchy, briny tomato sauce built the Neapolitan way: anchovy fillets dissolved into warm olive oil, garlic and chile bloomed slowly, then crushed San Marzano tomatoes reduced until glossy. Olives and capers go in near the end so they stay meaty and bright instead of turning muddy. Enough for a pound of spaghetti or bucatini, and it comes together in about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for finishing
• 8 fillets oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained (about 1 1/2 tbsp minced)
• 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 can (28 oz) whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
• 3/4 cup Gaeta or Kalamata olives, pitted and torn in half
• 3 tbsp salt-packed capers, rinsed (or brined capers, drained)
• 1 tsp dried oregano, preferably Sicilian on the branch
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 pinch sugar, if needed

• 1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 lb spaghetti or bucatini (optional, for serving)
• 1/2 cup reserved starchy pasta water (if serving with pasta)
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Open the can of tomatoes and crush them by hand into a bowl, squeezing each one until it collapses into rough shreds. Leave the juice in the bowl with them. Hand-crushing gives the sauce texture that a blender or food processor destroys.
2. Mince the anchovy fillets to a rough paste on a cutting board. Rinse salt-packed capers in two changes of cold water, then soak 5 minutes and drain; if using brined capers, just drain and pat dry. Pit the olives by pressing them under the flat of a knife and tearing them in half — torn edges hold sauce better than sliced ones.
3. Set a wide 12-inch skillet or shallow braiser over medium-low heat and add the 1/3 cup olive oil. When the oil is just warm (not shimmering), add the minced anchovy and stir with a wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes until it fully dissolves and the oil smells nutty and savory rather than fishy. Keep the heat gentle — anchovy that browns turns bitter.
4. Add the sliced garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant and just barely blond at the edges. Do not let it color past pale gold.
5. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 60 to 90 seconds, pressing it against the pan until it darkens to a brick red and starts to stick. This builds depth that the canned tomatoes alone won't give you.
6. Add the hand-crushed tomatoes with their juice, the oregano, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Raise heat to medium and bring to a lively simmer. Cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes and scraping the pan bottom, until the sauce has thickened, the raw tomato smell is gone, and a spoon dragged through the pan leaves a trail that fills in slowly. You should see olive oil pooling orange at the edges.
7. Stir in the olives and capers and simmer 4 to 5 minutes more, just long enough for their brine to spread through the sauce while the olives stay plump. Taste now, before any additional salt: capers, olives and anchovy are all salty, so most batches need none. If the tomatoes taste sharp, add a pinch of sugar.
8. Off the heat, stir in most of the parsley, a generous grind of black pepper, and a final tablespoon of raw olive oil for gloss. The sauce keeps 5 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen at this point.
9. To serve with pasta: boil 1 lb spaghetti or bucatini in well-salted water until 1 minute shy of al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, drain, and add the pasta directly to the skillet of sauce over medium heat. Toss hard for 1 to 2 minutes, splashing in pasta water a little at a time, until every strand is coated and the sauce clings rather than pools. Finish with the remaining parsley and serve immediately, with no cheese.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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