Our vegetarian Pasta Puttanesca is a super tasty and quick pasta dish! What makes it, is a rich tomato sauce with tangy capers, pungent garlic and salty olives! Ready in 25 minutes, it’s a great recipe to use when you’re short on time but don’t want to compromise on flavour!
There is always that one pasta dish in every family’s repertoire that they turn to for an easy midweek dinner. For some, it’s carbonara, for others the famous spaghetti bolognese. When we are not making our Easy Veggie Pesto Pasta, we are definitely making vegetarian Pasta Puttanesca.
This dish is traditionally made with spaghetti, but we just find it far easier with Penne, more convenient when there’re leftovers to take to work too (especially with a white shirt…)! It can also be easily veganised – just skip the cheese and replace with a vegan alternative. We love Nutritional Yeast! And not only for the pasta dishes! It’s great to sprinkle on green salads, mix into risottos or use to make vegan “cheese” sauces!
Read on for the simple steps on how to make this quick and easy pasta dish. It’s become quite a regular on our menu!
To start, prepare your vegetarian Puttanesca Sauce. Crush or finely chop garlic cloves, finely chop half of the chilli. Slice the olives into rounds. Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan, then tip in chopped chilli, garlic and 2 tbsp of capers from a jar, with 2 tbsp of the brine that the capers are in. Add the olives and a pinch of salt and fry for 2 minutes.
In the meantime, cut your broccoli into small florets and add to the pan alongside the tinned chopped tomatoes. Finally, add 2 tbsp of tomato paste. Stir, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for 8-10 minutes until broccoli softens but still retains some crunch.
Whilst pasta and broccoli are cooking, grate some cheese. When cooked, stir the sauce into the pasta, squeeze in half a lemon and divide between bowls. Top with cheese and any fresh herbs you may have on your window sill. In our opinion, parsley goes particularly well with this dish! Enjoy!
If vegetarian Pasta Puttanesca isn’t your cup of tea and you are looking for other quick and easy recipes for weekday dinners, have a look at our other midweek favourites:
- Herb-Crusted Haddock
- Easy Veggie Pesto Pasta
- Vegan Pineapple Stir Fry with Curried Coconut Sauce
- Courgette Soup with Cheddar Crisps
Vegetarian Pasta Puttanesca
Ingredients
- 2 large garlic cloves crushed or finely chopped
- ½ chilli thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp capers with 2 tbsps of caper brine
- 16 olives sliced into rounds
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
- 160 g broccoli cut into small florets
- 300 g pasta
- ½ lemon juice only
- 50 g parmesan finely grated
- a handful or parsley, chopped optional
Instructions
- In a large frying pan, heat a tbsp of oil. Tip in chopped garlic, chilli, capers with brine, sliced olives and a pinch of salt. Fry for 2 minutes.
- In the meantime, cut broccoli into small florets. Add them to the frying pan, alongside tomato paste and tinned chopped tomatoes. Stir, cover with a lid and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until your broccoli softens but still retains a bit of crunch.
- Cook your pasta following the packet instructions.
- When pasta and broccoli are cooked, mix the sauce into the pasta, squeeze half of the lemon in and stir. Top with grated cheese and fresh parsley, if using!
