Spicy Shrimp Puttanesca
Puttanesca, the famous Neapolitan tomato sauce that’s briny and bold from olives, garlic, capers and anchovies, is pretty spectacular as is. This recipe leans into those intense flavors and adds shrimp for a complete dish that’s big on flavor and easy to pull off on a weeknight. Using tomato paste gives the sauce a deeper, more concentrated base that holds its own against the salty tang of olives and capers; it also helps the sauce cling beautifully to pasta and shrimp alike. A final dab of butter isn’t traditional, but it adds a glossy finish and pushes this pasta dish just over the edge of delicious.
Ingredients
- Salt
- 1pound spaghetti, linguine or other long pasta
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 6garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 6oil-packed anchovy fillets
- 1cup Castelvetrano olives, crushed, pits removed
- 3tablespoons drained capers
- 1teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/3cup tomato paste
- 1pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2cup chopped parsley
- 1/2lemon
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then throw in a handful of salt. Cook the pasta until a bit firmer than al dente, about 2 minutes less than package directions. (It’ll finish cooking in the sauce.) Reserve 2 cups of pasta water, then drain the pasta.
While the water comes to a boil, heat the oil in another large pot or Dutch oven over medium. Add the garlic and anchovies and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is softened and anchovies have melted away, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the olives, capers and crushed red pepper, and stir for 1 minute, just so the crushed red pepper has time to release its heat in the oil.
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste begins to stick to the pan and darkens a few shades, about 3 minutes.
Add the shrimp, season with salt and cook, stirring often, until light pink and no more gray remains, about 2 minutes.
Add the pasta, 1 cup pasta water and the butter, and cook, tossing often, until a sauce forms and clings to the pasta, 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust the consistency of the sauce with additional pasta water as needed.
Turn off the heat, sprinkle in the parsley and squeeze in the lemon juice. Season with salt if needed and serve.
Nutrition
- Info
- Trans Fat: 0 gramsFat: 23 gramsCalories: 742Saturated Fat: 6 gramsUnsaturated Fat: 15 gramsSodium: 941 milligramsSugar: 6 gramsFiber: 6 gramsCarbohydrate: 94 gramsProtein: 41 grams