Most often seen in its pasta form, puttanesca originated in Naples, Italy, and is said to be a sauce created by the ladies of pleasure. One story told is that the ladies would visit restaurants at the end of the night and they would ask for leftover ingredients. These ingredients would all go into one pot to create this salty, vibrant sauce. Today, the sauce is most often found made from tomatoes, black olives, capers, anchovies, onions, and garlic, and served commonly on pasta.
I, however, have been trying to stay low carb since starting Keto and decided to skip the pasta and use cauliflower rice instead. The results were fantastic and the saltiness of the sauce was perfect. Further, the chicken was tender and just fell off the bone.
If you are looking for a great, low carb meal this one is sure to be a hit!
Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS:
- Serves 2-3 people
3LBS of Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks
Salt
2 TBSP of Olive OIl
3 Cloves of Garlic - thinly sliced
4 Anchovy Fillets in Oil
1/2 TSP of Red Chilli Pepper Flakes
2 TBSP of Concentrated Tomato Paste
1 Cup of Olives - crushed and pitted
3/4 CUP of Dry White Wine - and a little extra for drinking
2 TBSP of Capers - drained
2 Bay Leaves
Lemon Peel - 3 x 2” stripes
- Optional Bases -
Pasta
Cauliflower Rice - low carb option
DIRECTIONS:
Clean and pat dry your chicken before seasoning with salt.
In a large skillet, heat 2 TBSP of olive oil and sear the chicken, turning it occasionally until the fat and skin is a golden brown color. Once done, transfer chicken to a baking dish.
As you near the end of searing all your chicken, preheat the oven to 350.
Once done searing the chicken you will have a lot of delicious chicken bits stuck to the bottom of your skillet along with a pool of fat, remove fat from skillet, reduce heat to medium and add in your anchovies and garlic. Once the garlic is soft (about 2-3 minutes) add in your red chili flakes and tomato paste, and mix until well incorporated.
Next add in your olives, wine, bay leaves, capers, and lemon peel to the skillet. Using your wooden spoon or spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan so as to lift up all the good bits stuck to the bottom. Allow this sauce to simmer for 4-5 minutes or until most of the liquid from the wine evaporates.
Next, add 1 cup of water to the baking dish with all the seared chicken (they should be snuggled together) and add in the sauce from the skillet. Place entire baking dish in oven uncovered and allow to bake in the sauce for another 20-30 minutes
Once ready, remove from oven and serve either alone or with pasta or on a bed of cauliflower rice.
Enjoy!
NOTE: The chicken should be plenty salty from the capers and anchovies but if it is not you can always taste the sauce when it comes out of the oven and add extra salt as desired.
If you like this recipe or have any comments/questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!
