Gnocchi alla puttanesca
My dad was born in Naples and this dish is believed to have originated there. The key ingredients of an iconic puttanesca are tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives, chili and traditionally also anchovies. If you leave them out this dish is completely vegan. Today I’ve paired them with one of my all time favorite pasta’s: gnocchi.
Gnocchi are by far my favorite, they almost go with every sauce and in this case when the sauce is spicy they soften and make the spice milder, which in my case is good cause I can’t handle spicy food.
Another great thing about this dish is that it comes together so quickly too. A perfect weeknight dinner. But with it’s bold flavors it is also a great show of recipe for when you have people over.
A few tips to make the best puttanesca. Use capers that are stored in salt, this way the sauce will be seasoned without effort. Make sure you rinse them tho before otherwise the sauce will be too salty.
I used “olive taggiasche” in their own brine, do not rinse them and you could even add a splash of the brine to the sauce ;).
Chili flakes or fresh spicy chillies work. It’s up to your preference, I however recommend taking out the seeds from fresh chilies.
Optional but dried oregano works really well in this sauce too, I only used fresh parsley because honestly I forgot about the oregano. If you have it on hand feel free to add some.
Recipe
Serves 4 people
Ingredients
600 gr gnocchi
500 ml tomato sauce
1 tsp dried chili flakes, or more to taste
4 tbs of capers, see notes above for tips
125 gr of olive taggiasche, or any other Italian olive of choice
1 tsp of dried oregano
2-4 tbs of olive oil
fresh flat leaf parsley to serve
salt and black pepper, to taste
How to
Start by boiling salted water for the gnocchi.
Meanwhile add the olive oil to a frying pan and add the chili, capers and olives.
Fry for a few minutes until fragrant.
Add the tomato sauce and let it heat through. Add the dried oregano and stir.
Cook the gnocchi until they come floating and add them to the sauce.
Toss to coat every gnocchi and serve with fresh parsley.
Buon appetito!
SHARING IS CARING!
Did you make this? Tag me @lunatrapani on instagram. Love to see your creations.
