Pasta Puttanesca is a classic Italian pasta dish that's ready in under 40 minutes! Make it with canned tomato paste and crushed tomatoes, canned anchovies, jarred olives and capers. So simple and so good.

Photography Credit: Elise Bauer

Of all the dishes I’ve cooked over the years, pasta puttanesca holds a special place in my heart. I’ve been making it regularly since the late 1980s, when I was a freshman in the dorms at SUNY Stony Brook.

Puttanesca was the first “adult” meal I ever cooked by myself for myself; I’d done clunky versions of traditional “date night” dishes for girls before that, but this simple pasta sauce was my go-to meal after long, long days at track practice.

Video! How to Make Pasta Puttanesca

The Ingredients for Pasta Puttanesca

Puttanesca is the quintessential “I’m tired” meal, as it is almost entirely made up of pantry staples:

Canned tomato paste

Crushed tomatoes

Canned anchovies

Jarred olives and capers

The only chopping required is a little bit of onion and as much garlic and parsley as you want. You turn the water on to cook the spaghetti, and by the time the pasta is cooked the sauce is ready. Done and drinking beer (or doing homework) in 30 minutes.

What Does Puttanesca Mean?

It was only later that I learned the origins of this sauce. I’d made it for a female friend who was Italian, and she said, “Oh, harlot’s sauce.” I might have snickered. She explained that the legend of this sauce was that it easy to prepare for anyone who works when markets were closed — and ladies of the evening certainly fit that bill.

So do newspaper reporters. In the years I worked as a journalist, working past 9 p.m. was the norm, not the exception. Puttanesca was always there for me when I got home, however, and in a half an hour I could throw myself down in front of the TV, watch ESPN or somesuch, and eat a home-cooked meal.

All these years later, I still make puttanesca whenever I am tired or stressed. It’s one old habit I never want to break.

What to Serve with Pasta Puttanesca

For some extra garlic, serve this pasta with Garlic Bread or Garlic Knots. You can also round out the meal with a leafy green salad, like a simple Caesar Salad.

Storing and Freezing Leftovers

If you do have any leftovers, they’ll keep for a few days in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave.

The sauce (without the spaghetti) also freezes quite well. Freeze for up to three months and thaw in the fridge.

Love Italian Pastas? Try These!