Vegan Pasta Alla Puttanesca

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Pasta Alla Puttanesca

Rich, briny and undeniably umami led, this vegan pasta alla puttanesca is a delicious plant-based twist on the classic Neapolitan pasta recipe. The sauce is quick and easy to prepare. It's made with classic Italian ingredients, namely tomatoes, olives, capers and garlic. But the requisite anchovies are replaced by tamari-fried shiitake mushrooms.

Prep Time5

Cook Time17

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: capers, easy, mushrooms, olives, pasta, quick

Servings: people

Calories: 482kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

320 g wholewheat spaghetti pasta or pasta of your choice
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100 g shiitake mushrooms thinly sliced
1 tsp tamari (affiliate link)
125 g black olives pitted and quartered
1 tbsp capers rinsed of any salt
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 red chilli fresh or dried - finely chopped or 1 tsp chilli flakes
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes or use 500g fresh tomatoes - peeled and chopped
good grinding of black pepper
small bunch of parsley finely chopped

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dante. Follow the packet instructions for timing. Wholemeal pasta takes quite a bit longer to cook though, which is why you want to start cooking it straight away.
320 g wholewheat spaghetti pasta
Whilst the pasta is cooking, fry the mushrooms in 1 tbsp of the oil over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes until starting to caramelise. Add the tamari and stir fry for a further minute.
100 g shiitake mushrooms, 1 tsp tamari (affiliate link)
Add the remaining 3 tbsp of oil together with the olives, capers, garlic and chilli and fry for 2 minutes.
125 g black olives, 1 tbsp capers, 2 cloves garlic, 1 red chilli
Add the tomatoes, bring to the boil then simmer gently for 10 minutes with the lid on until everything is nicely combined and you have a thick sauce.
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
Drain the pasta, reserving half a cup of the starchy cooking water. Transfer the pasta to the tomato sauce pan and toss. Simmer for a further minute, adding some of the reserved pasta water if needed. The sauce should cling to the pasta rather than run off it, but you don't want it too thick either.
Remove from the heat and stir in the pepper and most of the parsley, reserving a little for garnish.
good grinding of black pepper
Serve in individual bowls and garnish with the reserved parsley.

Notes

Serve with a simple green salad or steamed greens, if liked.

Salt is a very personal thing. You shouldn't need to add any because of the salty capers, olives and tamari. But it's meant to be quite a salty dish, so you may not want to rinse the capers of salt before adding. I shook of some of the salt rather than rinsing it away completely.

If you transfer the pasta using tongs rather than draining, you'll naturally transfer some of the pasta water along with it.

If making the sauce for two people, make the amount in the recipe, but either freeze half of the sauce for another time or store it in the fridge. It will keep for 2-3 days.

You’ll find additional tips and info about this recipe in the main body of the post.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used. Please refer to my nutrition disclaimer for further information.

Nutrition