Dish of Pasta with Harlot Sauce
(click to enlarge)

Harlot Sauce for Pasta


Italy   -   Sugo Alla Puttanesca
For 1 #
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 Pasta
**
30 min
Yes		 The ladies are very busy, so this delicious sauce can be made quickly. It is traditionally used with spaghetti, but linguini (my favorite) and bucatini are also used. See also Stories.




1-1/4
12
6
1/4
1-1/2
2
2
1/3
1/4
----
#


t
T
cl
T
t
t
---
Tomatoes (1)
Olives (2)
Anchovy filets (3)
Chili Flakes (4)
Capers
Garlic
Olive Oil ExtV
Salt
Pepper
-- Garnish
Parsley
Prep   -   (20 min)
  1. Scald TOMATOES 1 minute in boiling water. Quench in cold water, peel, quarter lengthwise and slice thin. Pit and slice BLACK OLIVES. Chop ANCHOVIES fine. Drain and crush or coarsely chop CAPERS. Mix all, along with Chili Flake.
  2. Slice GARLIC thin.
  3. Chop PARSLEY medium.
Run   -   (20 min)
  1. Heat Olive Oil in a sauté pan and fry Garlic stirring until it threatens to color.
  2. Stir in Tomato mix and bring to a simmer. Simmer covered 15 to 20 minutes.
  3. Adjust consistency (add water or simmer uncovered). Season to taste with Salt and Pepper.
  4. Serve warm over warm pasta, garnish with Parsley.
NOTES:

  1. Tomatoes:

      If you don't have ripe flavorful tomatoes, use a 28 ounce can of whole Italian tomatoes, including juice.

  2. Olives:

      These can be black or 1/2 black and 1/2 green, but must be Italian or Greek olives cured in oil and salt - not canned salad olives, they're very different. Forget olive pitters, they don't work. Just whack an olive with the side of your prep knife and pull out the pit.

  3. Anchovies:

      Avoid Moroccan anchovies. Italian anchovies in a jar of oil are much better, but I've found canned South American anchovies pretty good. For details see our Anchovy Products page.

  4. Chili Flake:

      I crush a dry red Thai chili for this, which is quite hot. Use your own judgement. Fresh hot chilis can also be used. For details see our Chili Powders / Flake page.

  5. Stories:

      This recipe, very similar to older sauces from Naples, was named before 1961, when it first appears in literature. Nobody knows why it was so named, except the person who named it. As with most food stories, those who claimed to have named it are unlikely to be the one who did. One story is that under increasingly strict government regulation of bordellos, the ladies were only let out one day a week to do their shopping, so they had to mak a sauce based on durable staples.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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