After a really fun weekend in Richmond with friends, I lacked the wherewithal to make it to the grocery store yesterday. Our fridge was fairly empty, so I turned to the pantry to see what we had on hand. One of my go-to pantry meals is Pasta Puttanesca. I almost always have the components - pasta, capers, anchovies, olives and canned tomatoes - on hand. Unfortunately, when I reviewed the contents of the pantry, I realized that I did not have anchovies. However, I did see several cans of good tuna packed in oil. A quick googling turned up the following recipe from the Food Network for Linguine with Tuna Puttanesca:

Ingredients

Kosher salt
12 ounces linguine
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup roughly chopped kalamata olives
1 28 -ounce can San Marzano plum tomatoes
4 basil leaves, torn, plus more for garnish
1 5 -ounce can albacore tuna, packed in olive oil
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

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.
Add the tuna with its oil, breaking it up with a fork, and season with salt.
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.

Notes:

I did not have linguine so I used spaghetti.
I did have very tasty capers from the Italian Store and really nice olives from the Lebanese Taverna Market, which I am sure contributed to the wonderful flavor of this dish.
I went heavy on the crushed red pepper and garlic to give this more zest. I also added Italian seasoning and waited a moment or two for the flavors to incorporate before I added the tuna.
I did not have basil on hand but did have some beautiful parsley, which I chopped and added before serving.
I also passed grated Parmesan at the table.

When I typically make Puttanesca, I focus on building the flavor through the anchovies. Since this recipe uses tuna, which is added toward the end of cooking, it focuses on building the flavor through the garlic, red pepper, capers and olives. I really liked the result, and plan to alter my anchovy-based version a bit the next time I make it.