Pasta With Green Puttanesca

Pasta With Green Puttanesca
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(1,402)
Notes
Read community notes

Puttanesca is a sauce that plies its trade all year round, with ingredients — pantry staples like anchovies, garlic and olives — at the ready whenever the desire strikes. But this puttanesca takes advantage of spring greens, using fat green garlic cloves and baby spinach to lend a pungent verdancy to a tried-and-true dish. (If green garlic isn’t available, use regular, but use less.)

Featured in: Puttanesca Sauce Dressed for Spring

Learn: How to Make Pasta

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 1pound spaghettini or spaghetti
  • ½cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 10anchovy fillets
  • ¼cup drained capers
  • 1cup pitted and sliced green Cerignola or Picholine olives
  • 10fat green garlic cloves, peeled, sliced ¼-inch thick or use 8 regular garlic cloves
  • cup chopped scallions including greens
  • ½teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 12cups baby spinach leaves (11 ounces)
  • ½cup torn basil leaves
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

503 calories; 23 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 15 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 62 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 592 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until it is not quite al dente, 5 to 8 minutes. Reserve a cup of cooking water, then drain the pasta.

  2. Step 2

    While the pasta is cooking, warm ¼ cup of oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the anchovies and capers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the capers start to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining ¼ cup oil, olives, garlic, scallions and red pepper flakes; increase heat to high if using green garlic (leave it at medium high for regular garlic) and cook until garlic is golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the pasta and toss for 1 minute. Add a splash of pasta cooking water if the pasta seems dry. Season with salt, if necessary. Toss in the basil leaves.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,402 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

To even further simplify: if you're in a hurry, don't start with olive oil by itself. You can use anchovies that are already canned with capers and just dump the entire tin's content along with the anchovy-flavored olive oil from the tin. If you use two tins, that actually works out perfectly, and no additional salt is needed.

Simple to make and a pleasant deviation from the normal weeknight pasta hodgepodge dish. Based on the ingredients list, I thought it would be quite pungent and salty but, all that mellows in the cooking process into a smooth, unique taste. if i were anybody who liked these ingredients, i'd give this a try. just a note: I julienned prosciutto and subbed it for the anchovies...and, I'd do it, again.

I love this recipe because it is satisfying without the need for cheese. I've served this twice to toddlers and they love it. I chop everything finely and it practically dissolves into a sauce that they think is great, but don't know what it is, and can't pick "stuff" out.

You know, I don't do ad hominem often, but this was really uncalled for. You could've cheerfully offered up ways to reduce fat if you felt all that strongly about it, rather than being on the attack. I eat this, I'm not immortal, my BP is routinely very low and I need sodium so I am not ill and dizzy. Here comes the ad hominem part: It's quite obvious why you chose the most pompous of all Shakespeare's secondary characters; perhaps some choose to not play Laertes.

Olives are healthful and delicious. Olive oil is not implicated in heart problems. Fish is healthy.

Salt restriction for individuals who do not have the particular sensitivity to sodium is old hat.

Besides, the yield is 4 - 6 servings. So a bit of arithmetic, i.e. division, might be useful.

The opinions delivered by aptly-named Polonius are many decades out-of-date.

Check out the Mediterranean Diet for helpful details.

Really??? If you use an entire pound of pasta, all these ingredients get stretched a long way. I use 4 oz pasta for the two of us. I cut all quantities to suit. Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat, rich in heart healthy omega 3 which is known a beneficial. Salty? Rinse the anchovies; use less; uses less olives. Serving 4, ¼ cup capers comes out to 1 TB/person. Don't dis a fine recipe because it offends your concept of mortality.

What we love about the NYT site and Melissa, Sam, Mark (former), Tejal etc. - is that they represent what's so wonderful about cooking and food - nourishing people, sensual pleasures, the bounty of the earth, delighting in new flavors, learning about other people and their cultures, JOY. It's so sad to read comments when food becomes moral and dietary judgment about what/how we eat and find delightful. Find your joy and dietary needs. No need to judge. Swipe right! Lots of recipes for everyone

I'd recommend mincing the anchovies. I had a pretty sizable piece that didn't dissolve down give me a big 'HELLO' while eating the pasta. A great dish though.

This was so, so good. I used Castlevetrano olives and only had 4 anchovies and I thought the balance was just right. A little fresh parm on top didn't hurt.

Oh man is this GOOD! Get some green garlic now and make it. Now. A sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio would be fabulous with it.

I used bok choi instead of spinach..cook it a little longe..and enjoy

Added lemon zest & juice, replaced spinach with kale, doubled the chilli & served with a pile of pecorino. Wonderful.

As with so many of Melissa's recipes, this one is a winner. I followed one commenter's suggestion to use swiss chard, and another commenter's suggestion to puree all the non-greens sauce ingredients together in the food processor before Step 2; with my Swiss Diamond non-stick frying pan, I omitted the extra 1/4 cup of olive oil altogether. On a chilly night, the result was profoundly satisfying.

We've evolved something very like this at our house and enjoy varying the greens. Someone suggested bok choy, which I haven't tried, but we like something sturdier than spinach. Chard provides a similar contrast with the rest of the dish but is sweeter and the leaves a little meatier (at least than those of the ubiquitous baby spinach). Arugula (preferably not baby) goes in the opposite direction and adds an interesting bite. It can just be tossed in at the end to wilt slightly.

Make this all the time. Try throwing in some raisins after the garlic and anchovies.

I really like this! I subbed the pasta for hot dog buns and didn't have any green garlic so used calamansi instead. The second time I added chapulines for the olive oil because the oil was just too much - fantastic!

Delicious! Everyone devoured it. I used parsley instead of basil, and omitted the capers and scallions (but used extra olives and anchovies). I had regular garlic not green garlic available so used that. We did the crushed red pepper flakes at the table as not everyone is into spiciness, and that worked fine, though I’m sure it’s even better with them cooked in the oil. The anchovies totally fell apart in the sauce which was delightful. This is definitely going on our rotation!

I've held this recipe in my collection because it sounded good and Melissa Clark has never failed to capture what I enjoy. However, I overlooked it until about six months ago and WoW!! It's an enormous hit with our entire family. It hits all the savory notes we adore. Thanks so much.

This was briny (for me!). Added 2 tuna cans; maybe that pushed it over the edge?

I added a can of white beans and a can of good tuna, and it was superb!

In the spirit of puttanesca, I only used what was in my cupboard--I used dried herbs instead of fresh, and added them along with the red pepper flakes. Castelevatrano olives were what I had on hand. And no anchovies. Still turned out a satisfying meal! Next time I would add some lemon juice at the end, it needed a bit of brightness.

Add juice of 1 lemon for a boost!

This sauce has the most umami I've encountered in a "mostly vegetarian" dish while. Absolutely stunning flavors.

This sauce has the most umami I've encountered in a "mostly vegetarian" dish in a while. Absolutely stunning flavors. We followed the directions closely and made it last night. Shared the recipe with our daughters.

Great recipe. Used the sardines I picked up in Portugal and it was fabulous. Also added the juice of 1/2 a lemon and shaved parm. I didn’t have green garlic so used regular garlic.

Made this as directed but added quartered artichoke hearts. This is a great almost-pantry dish. Comes together quickly, entirely stovetop and more than the sum of its parts.

I thought this was okay, but it was more trouble and prep than the classic Puttanesca for less taste and punch. I'll stick with the original recipe.

This was a pleasant surprise. Was expecting something really fishy/salty with the anchovies but it was mellow, light and perfect for a summer's evening

I loved this dish

I use white anchovies (boquerones) to reduce sodium intake and really elevate this already great recipe.

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