Pasta Puttanesca · Bo's Real Kitchen

15' Prep time

15' Cook time

4 Servings

Easy Difficulty

A bold southern-Italian classic built almost entirely from the store cupboard — olives, capers, anchovies, tuna and tomato simmered into a rich, briny sauce. Big on flavour, light on effort, and on the table in about 30 minutes.

The Ingredients

For 4 servings · adjust with the +/− below

± €9 for 4 servings

For the sauce & pasta

Spaghetti (or other long pasta)400 g
Oil from the anchovies (plus a little olive oil if needed)2 tbsp
Garlic cloves, finely sliced4
Shallot, finely chopped1
Red chilli, finely chopped1
Anchovy fillets in oil, finely chopped50 g
Tinned tuna, drained400 g
Black olives, roughly chopped100 g
Capers, rinsed2 tbsp
Fresh tomatoes, diced4
Salt & black pepperto taste

How to make it

Step by step · 30 minutes · Store-cupboard hero

Cook the pasta

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente, following the packet. Before draining, scoop out a cup of the starchy cooking water and set it aside.

💡 Bo's tip: Keep the pasta a touch underdone — it finishes cooking in the sauce.

Build the base

Heat the anchovy oil in a pan over low heat. Add the shallot, garlic, red chilli and chopped anchovies. Cook gently for 2–3 minutes, pressing the anchovies with a wooden spoon until they melt completely into the oil.

Add olives, capers & tuna

Stir in the olives, capers and drained tuna. Cook for 1 minute so all the flavours mingle together.

Simmer the sauce

Add the diced tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, then let it reduce gently over low heat for about 10 minutes into a rich sauce. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

💡 Go easy on the salt — the anchovies and capers are already very salty.

Bring it together

Add a splash of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce. Drain the spaghetti and either toss it straight through the sauce, or serve the sauce spooned over the top.

Puttanesca is my favourite kind of cooking — almost everything comes from the cupboard, yet it tastes like you put in serious effort. The anchovies melt away and leave behind this deep, savoury backbone, while the olives and capers keep it bright and briny. Don't skip rinsing the capers, and taste before you add any salt.

— Bo 🍝