Look, we love a tinned sardine jaffle as much as anyone — properly, we do. But there comes a time when that tin of sardines deserves something a bit more exciting than toasted white bread. This puttanesca is bold, punchy, quick to make, and built entirely from things you probably already have in the pantry.
This is the kind of pasta you throw together when you get home late and can’t face chopping vegetables. Black olives, capers, chilli, garlic, tinned tomatoes, tinned sardine — it’s all big flavour with minimal effort. And it tastes like you spent an hour in the kitchen when you’ve really spent fifteen minutes.
Why Tinned Sardine Works Here
Puttanesca is traditionally made with anchovies, but tinned sardine gives you more to work with — meatier, more substantial, and still salty enough to season the sauce. You break them up into the tomato base and they melt down into the sauce as it cooks, adding richness and a savoury depth that makes the whole dish feel indulgent.
Use tinned sardine in oil here, not brine. The oil carries flavour and helps bind the sauce together. Debone them if you like, but honestly, the bones soften down and you won’t notice them once they’re broken up and stirred through the pasta.
Build the Base First
Start with garlic and Wilson’s Peri-Peri Oil in a cold pan. Slice the garlic thin — you want it to soften and turn golden without burning. Once it’s fragrant, add your olives, capers, chilli flakes, and a bit of lemon zest. This is where the flavour sits.
The olives and capers bring salt and brine, the chilli brings heat, the lemon zest lifts everything. Stir it all together, then scrape it into the pan with the garlic. You’re building layers here — each ingredient adds something the others don’t.
Scrunch in the Tomatoes
Tinned plum tomatoes are ideal here. Scrunch them into the pan with your hands — it’s messy, but it’s faster than chopping and gives you a rustic, chunky sauce. Bring it to the boil, then let it bubble away for a few minutes while your pasta cooks.
The sauce doesn’t need long. You’re not slow-cooking a ragù here — this is fast, fresh, punchy. Just enough time for the tomatoes to break down and the flavours to come together.
Break in the Sardines
Drain your tinned sardine and break them up with your hands. Lay them over the top of the tomato sauce — don’t stir them in yet. They’ll break down as the pasta finishes cooking, and stirring them in too early can turn them mushy. Let them sit on top, warming through, and they’ll flake apart beautifully when you toss everything together.
Two tins of tinned sardine (about 240g total) is enough for six servings of pasta. You want enough fish to taste it in every bite, but not so much that it overwhelms the sauce.
Cook the Pasta Just Shy
Cook your spaghetti for one minute less than the packet says. It’ll finish cooking in the sauce, which means it absorbs flavour as it cooks rather than just sitting on top of it. Use tongs to drag the pasta straight from the pot into the sauce — don’t drain it completely. A bit of starchy pasta water helps the sauce cling to the spaghetti.
Toss it all together over the heat for another minute. The pasta should look glossy, well-coated, and slightly loose. If it looks dry, add a splash more pasta water. The sauce should coat every strand without pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
Finish with Parsley and Lemon
Fresh parsley — stalks and all — gets chopped and stirred through at the end. It cuts through the richness of the tinned sardine and adds a bit of freshness to balance the salty, briny sauce. Save a few leaves to tear over the top when you serve.
Serve with lemon wedges on the side. A squeeze of lemon juice over the top lifts everything and adds brightness. Some people like to grate a bit of parmesan over puttanesca, but the tinned sardine is salty enough that you don’t really need it. Taste first, then decide.
Full recipe below: Tinned sardine puttanesca with chilli, black olives, and capers. Prep time: 5 minutes. Cooking time: 15 minutes. Serves 6.
Ingredients
Method
- Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling salted water for 1 minute less than the packet instructions.
- Peel and finely slice the garlic (or use a speed-peeler to shave it into thin slices), then place in a large cold pan with 2 tablespoons of Wilsons Foods Peri oil. Place on a medium-high heat and fry for a couple of minutes.
- Finely slice the olives and place on a serving platter. Grate over half the lemon zest and squeeze over the juice, then add the capers, chilli flakes and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Finely chop and add most of the parsley (stalks and all), mix well, then scrape into the garlic pan, holding back the lemony oil.
- Scrunch the tomatoes into the pan through clean hands, bring to the boil, then tip in the reserved lemony oil and leave to blip away for a few minutes.
- Drain the sardines and break them up with clean hands, deboning, if you like. Lay on top of the sauce and tear over some of the reserved parsley.
- Use tongs to drag the spaghetti straight into the sauce, loosening with a splash of starchy pasta water, if needed. Toss together and cook for 1 more minute.
- Transfer the pasta to the platter, season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper, tear over the remaining parsley, and serve right away.
This is fast food done properly. Big flavour, minimal washing up, and it costs almost nothing to make. Keep a few tins of sardine in the cupboard and you’ll always have a proper meal twenty minutes away. Better than a jaffle? We’ll let you decide.
Get the oil you need: Wilson’s Peri-Peri Oil is available online and in select retailers across South Africa.