Gluten-Free Spaghetti with Puttanesca Sauce

Why This Recipe Works

With a number of bold ingredients—garlic, anchovies, olives, and capers—the key to making a great Puttanesca is finding balance; a little too much of one ingredient will completely overpower the others. We found that blooming the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes in olive oil helped to develop, mellow, and blend their flavors. To avoid burning the garlic, it was important to add it (and the other two ingredients) to the pan at the same time as the oil; the garlic burned when we heated the oil first. After adding the tomatoes (diced plus crushed delivered the right consistency), we simmered the sauce long enough to infuse it with flavor and thicken it slightly, but not too long because we wanted to preserve the tomatoes’ sweetness and texture. Waiting to add the olives, capers, and parsley until the end kept them from disintegrating into the sauce and also ensured the sauce retained the right amount of piquant flavor. For a bit more richness, we drizzled olive oil over each bowl of pasta before serving.