Pasta With Green Puttanesca
Updated March 12, 2025
Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
Salt
1 pound spaghettini or spaghetti
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 anchovy fillets
¼ cup drained capers
1 cup pitted and sliced green Cerignola or Picholine olives
10 fat green garlic cloves, peeled, sliced ¼-inch thick or use 8 regular garlic cloves
⅓ cup chopped scallions including greens
½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
12 cups baby spinach leaves (11 ounces)
½ cup torn basil leaves
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 to 6 servings)
62 grams carbs; 6 milligrams cholesterol; 503 calories; 15 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 23 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 592 milligrams sodium; 14 grams protein; 2 grams sugar
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
- 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.
- Step 2
While the pasta is cooking, warm ¼ cup 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.
Private Notes
Comments
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.
Our son and I are huge NY Cooking fans. Especially Melissa's recipes. Made this exactly as written. Delicious. Wouldn't change anything. Sharon
I made this on a camping trip (olives and capers do fine without refrigeration for a few days) and replaced the anchovy with Parmesan for the veg. Roughly chopped garlic and olives did not stick to the pasta well enough. So either use a textured pasta or a chopper to get the ingredients almost to a paste.
I love this recipe. Requires a little prep—washing veggies and chopping—but it still comes together really quickly with max flavor payoff. It’s grassy and vegetal from the olive oil and greens, but bold and salty too. There’s not much opportunity for me to overcook the pasta, so it almost always comes out with the perfect chewy, carby bite.