Our good friend and enthusiastic cook, Chin Bawambi, sent us a recipe for Puttanesca Sauce. Sheila and I followed the recipe and it’s a WOW! We took the photos before and after taste-testing and tried it with pasta as well as beef and chicken dishes. We can honestly say it’s a truly versatile sauce. Guarantee: no bodies were found anywhere on the premises while cooking. Sheila tells me that I did fall asleep on the couch with a satisfied smile after dinner, though. I believe her.

Puttanesca Sauce (Staten Island Gravy)
Equipment
- Crock-pot
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon powdered or minced garlic
- 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano
- 1 heaping Tablespoon capers
- 1/4 cup sliced Kalamata olives
- 1 2 oz can anchovy fillets in olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (or to taste)
Instructions
- Turn crock-pot on high.
- Place crushed tomatoes, sea salt, oregano, and garlic in crock-pot.
- Drain diced tomatoes and add to crock-pot.
- Drain and mince capers, add to crock-pot, and blend.
- Finely chop olive slices, add to crock-pot, and blend.
- Pour olive oil from the anchovy can, plus the two Tablespoons of olive oil, into the crock-pot, keeping the anchovies in reserve.
- Finely chop anchovies and add to crock-pot, blending in.
- Add Montreal steak seasoning.
- Stir all ingredients thoroughly.
- Cook on high for 30 minutes, stir and drop temperature to low.
- Cook an additional 45 minutes, stir again and check for flavor. If needed, add more steak seasoning to taste.
- Cook for an additional hour.
- Serve while hot or let cool for a bit and refrigerate up to a week in glass jars.
- Serve with pasta, poultry, veggies, or meats.
Please follow and like us:
Can you leave out the anchovies? That would make the whole dish unacceptable in our house. That and we couldn’t use it with meatballs since a Kosher Home doesn’t have fish mixed with meat in the same dish.
The recipe works just fine without the anchovies. It will be a little less salty, so you might need to adjust the seasoning accordingly. Enjoy!