The word puttanesca refers to an Italian sauce dating back to the early 1900s and composed of tomatoes, black olives, capers, anchovies, and garlic. Alla puttanesca is used to refer to a pasta or any other food that is served with this sauce. This bold and briny sauce is easy to prepare but offers lots of taste for a quick meal. In Naples, the sauce is also called ulive e chiapparielle.
While the above ingredients are the typical base of puttanesca sauce, other ingredients can be added such as onions, red pepper flakes, oregano, and lemon. Of all the ingredients, it is probably the anchovies that distinguish sugo alla puttanesca, aka puttanesca sauce, although some cooks omit it.
What Type of Pasta for Puttanesca?
For serving puttanesca pasta, a long, thin dried pasta with a round profile is best, such as spaghetti or bucatini.
What Can Else Besides Pasta Does Puttanesca Go with?
Puttanesca sauce goes well with fish or seafood, although some may omit the anchovies in this case. The basic ingredients can also be put on a pizza for “Pizza Puttanesca.” The sauce also works well as a steak topping for skirt steak or ribeye. It goes well with chicken and makes an easy one dish meal when paired chicken breasts.
Origin of the Name Puttanesca
It is said that Puttanesca gets its name from the Italian word puttana, meaning “hooker” or “prostitute.” According to one story, the name comes from the intense flavor and smell of the sauce acting as a lure to men who visit “ladies of the night.” Others claim the sauce was a quick and easy sauce that prostitutes could make between clients.
Different sources claim different origins for the sauce. It is claimed to come from the Campania region as well as the region of Lazio. It’s even claimed to have been invented in the 1950s at Rangio Fellone restaurant, where the name referred to using whatever was left in the pantry for a quick and easy dish.
However, apparent precursors to the dish appear as early as 1844 in the book Cucina Teorico-Pratica by Ippolito Cavalcanti, who included a recipe for vermicelli all’oglio con olive capperi ed alici salse, which means “vermicelli with olives, capers, and anchovies.”
A 1931 recipe listed as maccheroni alla marinara in the Touring Club Italiano: Guida Gastronomica D’Italia is also quite close to a modern puttanesa. The first printed mention of the name puttanesca was in the 1961 novel by Raffaele La Capria called Ferito a morte, meaning “Mortally Wounded.”
You can read more about the colorful story of the origin of puttanesa and get a basic recipe for how to prepare it at La Cucina Italiana.
