This sauce is named for ladies of the night. They would place pots of it in their windows to tempt men into the bordellos. I like it because it's spicy, fast and easy (no disrespect to the ladies).

Pasta Puttanesca

(2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil

garlic, chopped

anchovy

red pepper flakes

black olives,

capers

chunky style crushed tomatoes

can diced tomatoes, drained

black pepper

(a couple of handfuls) flat leaf parsley, chopped

Crusty bread, for mopping

Parmigiano Reggiano

Serving suggestions: Bitter Greens Salad, recipe follows

(about 2 bundles) arugula leaves, coarsely chopped

(about 1 bundle) watercress leaves, coarsely chopped

lettuce,

lemon

Extra-virgin olive oil,

salt and black pepper

Oil cured black olives,

garlic, red pepper flakes, capers, diced tomatoes, parsley, spaghetti, crusty bread, parmesan, bitter green salad,

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add oil, garlic, anchovies, and crushed pepper. Saute mixture until anchovies melt into oil and completely dissolve and garlic is tender, about 3 minutes: your kitchen never smelled so good! Add olives, capers, tomatoes, black pepper, and parsley. Bring sauce to a bubble, reduce heat, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes.

Toss sauce with cooked pasta. Pass bread and cheese at the table and serve with Bitter Greens Salad.

Combine greens in a salad bowl. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the bowl. Drizzle salad liberally with extra virgin olive oil. Toss salad and season salad with salt and pepper. Arrange salad on plates. Garnish plates with black olives, if using.

This sauce is not to be served with grated cheese! That's sacrilege!!! 

Very easy and delicious!  This is a great take on a tomato pasta sauce that brings the umami with anchovies and the salty acid edge from the olives and capers with a little kick from the red pepper.  A great combination. We added some leftover grilled shrimp and pan-fried scallops at the last minute to make it 'di Mare'.  I will be making this again and using it as a base to build from!

Norman Bruce, my friend your half right. And Rachael Ray is partially right too !!..Puttanesca was first made in Napoli. The story of the Prostitutes is probable a fable, but so is your story. Puttanesca is made as follows.....in Pot add Virgin Olive oil, chopped onions, chopped garlic and cook till soft and flavorful, add squeezed Italian whole Tomato from Italia ( Don't have to be San Marzano save your money) and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, add Kalamata olives and capers add the cooked pasta to sauce and plate...Add fresh chopped parley and Parmigiano (if you want) and enjoy..There's your Ho pasta....Buon Appetito, Norman.. And don't forget a nice bottle of "Rosso" wine ( It's Chianti, but it's not from the region of Tuscany..it's a D.O,C thing in Italia....Again, save your money). Ciao, Chef Saverio.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pasta-puttanesca-recipe.html#sni-reviews?oc=linkback

My wife is not a fan of anchovies and was a little apprehensive to eat this. She liked it. the Anchovies were more of a background flavor and subtle. I added some scallops at the end and that was a good addition. Shrimp or squid rings would also work well. I will make this again. I liked it. It was light and not greasy. It was easy and quick to prepare. 

Made this today for lunch with husband. It was delicious and really showcased the pasta (vermicelli) as the Italians prefer. Crusty bread with an EVOO / balsamic dipping sauce completed the meal. It was wonderfully filling and all the various components came through in a symphony of flavors. Absolute perfection!<br />

Best Pasta sauce ever!  I have been making this recipe for years now.  It is my go to sauce and my whole family's as well.  Can be made in a few minutes and comes out delicious.  I always make a big batch and freeze it for other meals.

Shocked to find I've never reviewed one of my favorite recipes, this one.  Have been making this sauce exactly as written ever since Rachael first prepared it on TV--quick, easy, on-hand ingredients, delicious!!  Sometimes I add a can of tuna like my Italian grandmother often did.  

This is the first time I have endeavored to make pasta puttanesca, primarily because bottle versions of it seem to have disappeared from grocery shelves, for reasons unknown.  The results were as good as any I have purchased before, made all the better by fresh ingredients.  The yield would easily serve four.  The number of anchovies was just right and offered great zest.  I added a bit more than was called for in the way of olives and crushed red peppers, because I don't think you can have too many olives in most any dish and I prefer to have things spicy.  I also added oregano and a bit of sugar, but I don't think they made a major difference to the outcome.  All in all, very successful and recommended.

That is not true that the "ladies of the night" would put the pasta in the windows to attract men into their bordellos. It was first made by a chef (Annarita Cuomoin) in a restaurant in southern Italy, when he had late night hungry guests. They insisted that he cook for them by saying "Facci una puttanata qualsiasi (Make any kind of garbage)."  puttanata means something worthless. He later included this item on his menu as spaghetti alla puttanesca.

An anchovy tin in the pantry has been staring at me for weeks and tonight I finally agreed to use it! Made a few changes: used only 3 cloves of garlic as that is all I had on hand (luckily they were big, juicy, flavorful locally grown ones) used 2-14.5 oz. cans of Kirkland (Costco brand) cans of organic diced tomatoes, doubled up on the olives using an antipasto mix (also purchased from Costco in the refrigerated section) didn't have any parsley on hand so I used a few fresh basil leaves instead. Also, I didn't use any black pepper--I forgot. EXCELLENT! I think it is important to note that sauce needs to cook a while so that ALL the flavors meld. Tasting too early does not give a true representation of what this becomes after 10 or so minutes. Also, always salt your pasta water regardless of how salty your sauce is. I'm Italian and while I do respect the "rules" of cooking and eating...if you want cheese, add the cheese. But do try this dish without cheese first, you just may love it!

https://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/rachaels-pasta-puttanesca-0234648

Rachael makes her favorite Italian dish, Pasta Puttanesca.

pasta puttanesca

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

Cost: $14.62 /serving

Author : Rachael Ray : Food Network

Ingredients

Instructions

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