• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to privacy navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Jo Cooks

Simple - Easy - Comfort

Join my free recipe email club!
Free eBook
  • Recipe Index
  • Cookbooks
    • The Big Book of Jo’s Quick and Easy Meals
    • 30-Minute One-Pot Meals
  • ABOUT JO
  • Contact
  • Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube
  • Dinner Ideas
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • 30 Minute Meals
  • One Pot
  • Desserts
Home / Recipes
30 minutes
6 Comments

Linguine Puttanesca with Tuna

Jump to RecipePrint Recipe
  • 13
by: Joanna Cismaru

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Linguine Puttanesca with Tuna – a lighter, healthier pasta dish.

Close up shot of Linguine Puttanesca with Tuna

Ever wonder what Puttanesca means? Well I recently found out while watching the foodnetwork channel. However the history of pasta Puttanesca has many colorful Italian folk tales. The word itself Puttana in Italian means whore. One of these such tales, suggest that a restaurant owner had many such “whore” guests come to his restaurant to eat late at night as he was about to close. As he didn’t have enough of any one ingredient to make a meal for them all, he would take everything out of his kitchen and put it together to make this Italian pasta sauce.

Another tale suggests that Puttanesca sauce was named after the term whore simply because it had everything in it and because Italians are frugal they would not throw any food away, thereby making this wonderful tomato sauce recipe. So now I’m sitting here thinking that anytime you make a pasta dish and just throw in any ingredients you have in your fridge, well that can be called pasta Puttanesca.

I was inspired to make this dish after I had a similar dish at a restaurant I’d been to recently, but I could not eat the dish because of how spicy it was, so I was determined to make my own. Don’t worry, my husband was all too happy to step in and eat the dish for me. This version of linguine Puttanesca, includes tuna. I also think this pasta dish is healthy because really there’s nothing really bad in it, other than the carbs in the noodles, but you could use whole wheat pasta for that.

And there is no cheese in this dish!

What?

No cheese in a pasta dish?

Nope! I was thinking after I made it, that I could grate some fresh Parmesan cheese over it, but why ruin a good thing. There are lots of flavors in this dish, there are capers and olives, garlic and basil, I mean these are really flavorful ingredients. Sometimes keeping it simple is better. I tell you what made this dish better though, and you have to trust me on this, is adding some Frank’s hot sauce, not too much to make it spicy like my restaurant version, but spicy enough to make it delicious. YUM!

Top shot of a bowl of Linguine Puttanesca with Tuna

Looking for more recipes? Follow on… My Newsletter Pinterest Facebook Instagram

linguine puttanesca with tuna

Linguine Puttanesca with Tuna

No ratings yet
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 30 mins
Author: Joanna Cismaru
Serves: 4
Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

  • 14 ounce linguine or 1 package
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoon capers drained
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped kalamata olives
  • 1 28- ounce can whole plum tomatoes
  • 4 basil leaves torn, plus more for garnish
  • 1 5 ounce can tuna packed in water
  • ground pepper
  • salt to taste
  • Frank’s hot sauce optional

Instructions

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the linguine and cook until al dente.
  • Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until slightly toasted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the capers and olives and fry 2 more minutes.
  • Crush the tomatoes into the skillet with your hands and reserve the juices. Cook until the tomatoes are slightly dry, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved tomato juices, the basil, and salt to taste and cook until the sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. I highly recommend not adding any salt to this dish, because the capers and the olives are already pretty salty. Add the tuna, water strained, breaking it up with a fork.
  • Drain the pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water, and return it to the pot. Add the sauce and the reserved cooking water and toss. Season with pepper and garnish with more basil. Add hot sauce as preferred.
Tried this recipe? Rate it belowtag @jocooks on instagram and hashtag it #jocooks!
  • 13

Meet Joanna Cismaru

I’m Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

30 recipes from around the world cover.

Never miss a recipe!

Subscribe and get a FREE dinner recipes ebook!

fried turkey popcorn
Previous Post
Popcorn Turkey
two martini glasses of frozen mudslides
Next Post
Frozen Mudslide

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment & Rate Recipe Cancel reply

Did you make this recipe? Rate it:




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Dave spangler says

    May 9, 2019 at 6:12 am

    I cook in a nursing facility. And your recipes are always a sash hit.

    Reply
    • Joanna Cismaru says

      May 10, 2019 at 1:55 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. suneeta says

    April 17, 2012 at 3:50 am

    Just made this tonight and it was quick, easy, and delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!

    Reply
    • jo says

      April 17, 2012 at 4:14 am

      You’re very welcome. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Angie@Angie's Recipes says

    April 15, 2012 at 7:07 am

    What a delightful and delectable pasta puttanesca!

    Reply
    • Pearly Q Quest says

      April 15, 2012 at 6:51 pm

      This is wonderful. Jo, Italians never put cheese and fish together, it is a culinary taboo. But, it really boils down to personal taste. Love this site, love the recipes! Thanks!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Joanna Cismaru

Hey there!

I'm Joanna (Jo for short) and this is my blog where I share with you my culinary adventures. Here you will find a variety of recipes using simple everyday ingredients and creating wonderful, delicious and comforting meals, including some decadent desserts.

Read More…
cover for the big book of jo's quick and easy meals.

My Cookbook

Order Now: Amazon | Indigo | Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound | Books-A-Million

Never miss a recipe!

Subscribe and get a FREE dinner recipes ebook!

Sign me up

Dinner Favorites

black pepper chicken on a bed of rice on a black plate.

Black Pepper Chicken

a slice of pastitsio on a black plate.

Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna)

side view shot of a piece of eggplant parmesan with marinara sauce in a white plate garnished with parsley and a piece cut out and held by a fork

Eggplant Parmesan

side view shot chicken souvlaki skewers with a little tzatziki on a plate

Chicken Souvlaki

yakisoba noodles with chicken and vegetables in a large serving platter.

Yakisoba

pouring lemon sauce over fried chicken.

Chinese Lemon Chicken

a chicken gyro wrapped in paper and topped with lots of tzatziki sauce with another gyro in the background

Chicken Gyros

homemade hamburger helper lasagna from scratch in a skillet.

One Pot Hamburger Helper Lasagna

Air Fryer Recipes

a roasted chicken on a serving platter along some roasted root veggies.

Air Fryer Whole Chicken

apple pie bombs on a white plate with the top one cut in half.

Air Fryer Apple Pie Bombs

3 cooked chicken breasts on a cutting board.

Air Fryer Chicken Breast

air fried chicken drumsticks in a basket of an air fryer.

Air Fryer Chicken Drumsticks

cooked chicken thighs in the basket of an air fryer.

Air Fryer Chicken Thighs

eggs inside an air fryer basket.

Air Fryer Hard Boiled Eggs

lobster tails on a white serving platter.

Air Fryer Lobster Tails

hands pulling apart a mozzarella stick with the rest in the background

Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks

freshly made bread in air fryer on a cutting board cut into slices.

Air Fryer No Knead Bread

bacon wrapped water chestnuts on a white serving platter.

Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Jo Cooks...

Flavors from around the world

No matter what household we have all grown up in, there is something that has brought us all together here and that is a love and appreciation of food. Food that is from cultures and cuisines across the world has always been a staple of the blog. I'm excited to bring you all a taste of each corner of the earth, every last bite seasoned to perfection and served up with love - from my kitchen to yours.
chow mein in a white asian bowl.

Asian

caprese gnocchi in a sheet pan.

Italian

chicken fajita taquitos with sour cream and salsa on a white platter.

Mexican

chicken and mushroom in creamy dill sauce over a bed of rice in a blue bowl.

Romanian

freshly made lamb korma in a beige braiser.

Indian

freshly made hummus drizzled with olive oil and garnished with tomatoes cucumbers and olives.

Middle Eastern

Trending Now

overhead shot of oven baked chicken breasts in a baking dish

Baked Chicken Breast

overhead shot of oven baked chicken thighs in a pan

Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

roast chicken with roast potatoes on a roaster.

Roast Chicken

a prime rib roast sliced on a plate

Prime Rib Roast

Browse All
  • Easy Dinners
  • Instant Pot
  • 30 Minute Meals
  • Chicken Recipes
  • Desserts
  • Recipe Index

Featured On

today logo.
huffpost logo.
the washington post logo.
jezebel logo.
countryliving logo.
good housekeeping logo.
lifehack logo.
buzzfeed logo.
mashable logo.
woman's day logo.
health logo.
better homes & gardens logo.
delish logo.
healthline logo.
nbc news logo.
blogloving logo.
university of washington logo.
shape logo.
Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube
  • Recipe Index
  • Cookbooks
  • About Jo
  • Contact
  • visit my other site: Craving Home Cooked
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
© 2022 · All Rights Reserved · Back to Top
Opens in a new window Opens an external site Opens an external site in a new window

Subscribe and get a free dinner recipes ebook!