Puttanesca Caper

Name: Puttanesca Caper
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus a drizzle for the capers; 2 x 50 g/2 oz cans anchovy fillets in olive oil; 1 tsp dried chilli (hot pepper) flakes; 1 tsp fennel seeds; 2 x 50 g/2 oz cans anchovy fillets in olive oil; 300 g/10½ oz dried spaghetti; 50 g/2 oz drained capers; a large handful of fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 tsp dried chilli (hot pepper) flakes; 7 garlic cloves, finely sliced; 160 g/5½ oz pitted black olives (the dry, wrinkly ones if possible); 2 x 400 g/14 oz cans good plum tomatoes in juice (San Marzano, if you can find them); sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Bold

By Nisha Katona

Published 2024

About

A perennial favourite of those who like bold flavours, puttanesca is already a pretty punchy spaghetti dish, but here I’ve intensified the flavour even more with some crispy fried capers and fennel seeds. Buon appetito.

Ingredients

2 x 50 g/2 oz cans anchovy fillets in olive oil
3 tbsp

Fish course
Pescatarian
Pasta

Method

Pour the olive oil from the anchovy cans into a sauté pan – you should get about 1 tablespoon of oil out of each can. Add the 3 tablespoons olive oil, along with the fennel seeds, chilli flakes, garlic slices and a good pinch of salt. Cook over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes until the garlic is