Chicken puttanesca
Spaghetti and seared chicken in a bold, briny tomato sauce with olives, capers, garlic and chile, made almost entirely from the pantry.
- 35 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.93 a serving
- 630 calories
- Good the next day
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 12 oz spaghetti
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can black olives, drained and halved
- 2 tbsp capers, drained
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt, divided
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
Each serving has about 630 calories, 41 g protein, 82 g carbs and 16 g fat, and costs about $2.93 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No spaghetti? Fettuccine works.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No crushed tomatoes? Diced tomatoes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Fill a large pot with water, add 2½ teaspoons of salt, and bring it over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
the chicken with the rest of the salt and wash your hands and board.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large over medium-high and cook the chicken 6 to 7 minutes, until the biggest piece reads 165°F. Move it to a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium-high heatTimer: 6 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Add the rest of the oil, the garlic and pepper flakes and over medium heat 1 minute, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
in the tomatoes, olives, capers and oregano and 10 minutes, until .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Taste before adding salt. The olives and capers bring plenty.Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti until , about 9 minutes. Save ½ cup of the and .
Al dente. Al dente is Italian for “to the tooth”: pasta cooked until tender but with a slight firm bite in the center. It holds up in sauce and keeps softening a little after you drain it.
How you’ll know: Bite a piece a minute before the package time: tender, with a slight firm bite in the middle and no crunch.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 9 min
the chicken into the sauce, then in the spaghetti with of until coated.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Splash. A splash is a small, quick pour, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon. It’s there to loosen or brighten a dish, so the exact amount doesn’t matter.
How you’ll know: The dish looks a little looser or tastes a little brighter, not soupy.
Reserve pasta water. It means scooping out a cup of the starchy cooking water before you drain the pasta. A splash helps the sauce cling and turn silky, and it’s the step everyone forgets.
How you’ll know: A mug of cloudy water is sitting by the stove before the pasta goes into the colander.
Low heat
Scatter the parsley over and serve.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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