Pairings | L

The best wine pairings for spaghetti puttanesca

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on May 24 2021 at 07:36

Spaghetti puttanesca - or ‘whore’s spaghetti’ to translate it literally - is a full-flavoured pasta dish with strong, punchy flavours but which wine should you pair with it? As with other pasta dishes, it’s all about the sauce.

There are various theories about how the dish - a comparatively recent invention - got its name, the most plausible being that it was a simple storecupboard dish that could be slung together between clients’ visits. Etymology aside, the best wine pairings for pasta puttanesca should consider its core ingredients.

Puttanesca is heavy on garlic, anchovies, capers, chillies and olives - quite a lot for any wine to handle. My preference, given the base is cooked tomatoes, would be for a southern Italian red - even a basic carafe wine would do.

Here are some specific suggestions:

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Comments: 1 (Add)

Martha on October 4 2016 at 11:36

Thank you for including the Alentejo reds in your recommendations. This is a wonderful part of Portugal with fabulouos people and wines. I don't think it gets enough attention. I love their voluptuous silky, very drinkable reds.

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