Hearts of Palm Pasta Puttanesca: An Easy 10-Minute Dinner
Updated: Sep 7
If you want a dinner that tastes like you put considerably more effort into it than you actually did, this is it.
This hearts of palm pasta puttanesca combines garlic, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and sardines with hearts of palm angel hair for a quick, flavorful meal you can have on the table in about 10 minutes.
It's salty, garlicky, a little spicy, and packed with Mediterranean flavors.
Basically, it tastes like something I should have ordered at a little Italian restaurant rather than something I threw together in one pan.
What Is Puttanesca?
Puttanesca is a bold Italian tomato sauce traditionally made with ingredients such as tomatoes, garlic, olives, capers, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Many versions also include anchovies.
My version takes a few liberties.
Instead of traditional pasta, I use hearts of palm angel hair, and instead of anchovies, I use sardines. The sardines blend beautifully into the tomato, garlic, olive, and caper sauce while adding protein and healthy fats.
Is it traditional Italian puttanesca? No.
Is it delicious? Absolutely.
My kitchen has never been particularly concerned with following rules.
What Is Hearts of Palm Pasta?
Hearts of palm pasta is made from the tender inner portion of certain palm plants. It's cut into shapes that resemble traditional pasta, including angel hair, linguine, and lasagna sheets.
The texture isn't exactly the same as wheat pasta, and I don't think we need to pretend it is. It has a slightly firmer texture and a mild flavor that works particularly well with flavorful sauces.
That's why puttanesca is such a good match.
Garlic, tomatoes, olives, capers, sardines, and red pepper have enough personality that the hearts of palm simply become the vehicle for all that flavor.
Why I Add Sardines
I know.
Sardines.
If you're already trying to leave the page, stay with me.
Sardines are one of those foods people tend to have very strong feelings about before they've actually tried using them in a recipe like this.
Once they're chopped and sautéed with garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, olives, capers, and red pepper flakes, they become part of the sauce rather than tasting like you're eating a plate of sardines.
They also add protein and provide omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, vitamin B12, and other nutrients.
If you've been wanting to incorporate more oily fish into your diet but can't imagine sitting down with a fork and a can of sardines, this is a much friendlier introduction.
A Quick Protein-Rich Dinner
One thing I've changed about the way I talk about recipes over the years is that I no longer think a food needs to be “low-carb” to qualify as healthy.
I originally liked this recipe because hearts of palm pasta gave me another way to eat more vegetables while creating a quick meal. I still do.
But you don't have to choose hearts of palm pasta because you're afraid of carbohydrates.
You can choose it because you like it.
You can also serve this sauce over traditional pasta, a gluten-free pasta, or another pasta alternative that works for you.
The more important question is whether the entire meal gives your body what it needs.
Tomatoes, Garlic, Olives & Capers Bring the Flavor
Puttanesca isn't shy.
You've got the sweetness and acidity of tomatoes, the pungency of fresh garlic, salty Kalamata olives and capers, rich extra virgin olive oil, and just enough crushed red pepper to give everything a little kick.
Then the sardines add a savory depth to the sauce.
This is why you don't need a long ingredient list or hours of simmering to make something flavorful.
Sometimes you just need garlic.
Okay, frequently you need garlic.
A Chinese Food Therapy Perspective
Even though this recipe is Mediterranean-inspired, I still look at it through a Chinese food therapy lens.
Chinese food therapy considers the energetic qualities of foods along with how they're prepared and how they fit the individual eating them. Garlic is traditionally considered warming and pungent, while tomato is generally viewed as more cooling. Cooking the ingredients together creates a warm, prepared meal rather than relying on cold or raw foods.
Fish is also commonly used as a nourishing protein in Chinese food therapy, and cooked vegetables can be easier for some people to tolerate than large quantities of raw food.
This doesn't mean every ingredient is right for every person. That's one of the central ideas behind Chinese medicine: food should be individualized.
But it does show that food therapy doesn't have to look like a bowl of mysterious herbs.
Sometimes it looks like pasta puttanesca.
Hearts of Palm Pasta Puttanesca Recipe
This is my original recipe, and one of the best things about it is how quickly it comes together.
Ingredients:
2 (4.37 oz.) packages wild-caught boneless, skinless sardines in water, drained and chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup Kalamata olives, chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1 cup San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, hand crushed
1 (12 oz.) pouch hearts of palm angel hair, rinsed and drained
Directions:
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add the extra virgin olive oil.
Add the minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and chopped sardines. Sauté for approximately 5 minutes, allowing the garlic and sardines to become fragrant and begin blending into the oil.
Stir in the chopped Kalamata olives and drained capers.
Add the hand-crushed tomatoes and cook until the sauce begins to simmer.
Finally, stir in the rinsed and drained hearts of palm angel hair and cook for another 2 minutes, just long enough for everything to heat through and the pasta to absorb some of the flavor from the sauce.
Serve immediately.
That's it.
You probably spent more time deciding what to make for dinner than you will actually cooking it.
Do I Need to Rinse Hearts of Palm Pasta?
I recommend it.
Rinsing and draining hearts of palm pasta before adding it to your recipe can help mellow its natural flavor so that it takes on more of the sauce.
For this recipe, you don't need to boil it separately. Once it's rinsed and drained, it goes directly into the simmering puttanesca sauce for the final couple of minutes.
One less pot to wash is always appreciated.
Can I Use Regular Pasta?
Absolutely.
If you prefer traditional pasta, use it.
You can also use a gluten-free pasta, chickpea pasta, lentil pasta, or another variety that fits your nutritional needs and preferences.
Prepare your pasta according to the package directions and toss it with the finished puttanesca sauce.
Healthy eating doesn't require finding the lowest-carbohydrate substitute for every food you enjoy.
What If I Don't Like Sardines?
Before removing them, I'd actually encourage you to try the recipe once as written.
Sardines taste very different when they're incorporated into a flavorful sauce than when they're eaten straight from the package. Garlic, tomato, olives, capers, red pepper, and olive oil do a lot of heavy lifting here.
If sardines still aren't your thing, you could experiment with anchovies or another seafood protein.
Or simply leave the fish out and enjoy the tomato, olive, caper, and garlic sauce.
Cooking should not involve forcing yourself to eat something you hate simply because someone told you it was healthy.
Can I Add More Protein?
You can.
The sardines already provide protein, but the amount you need at a meal depends on your individual needs.
If you want a more substantial dinner, you could increase the sardines or pair the dish with another protein source.
This is especially worth considering for women in their 40s, 50s, and beyond, when maintaining adequate protein intake and muscle becomes increasingly important.
Dr. Stephanie's Tip: Keep a few big-flavor pantry ingredients available and you can turn a very simple meal into something interesting without much effort.
Garlic, good olive oil, canned tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, red pepper flakes, and canned fish all have a relatively long shelf life.
Add a vegetable and a protein and suddenly the “there's nothing to eat” situation looks considerably less dramatic.
This is exactly the kind of recipe I like for busy nights: real food, plenty of flavor, and very little ceremony.
Healthy Food Doesn't Have to Be Boring
One of the biggest misconceptions about eating well is that healthy meals have to taste like someone forgot the seasoning.
This recipe proves otherwise.
The combination of tomatoes, garlic, olives, capers, olive oil, red pepper, and sardines creates a bold sauce, while hearts of palm pasta gives you a fun way to incorporate another plant food into your meal.
Best of all, it comes together in about 10 minutes.
Because sometimes I want to make a beautiful meal from scratch.
And sometimes I want dinner now.
This recipe handles the second situation beautifully.
Love Easy, Healthy Recipes Like This?
If you enjoy simple recipes made with real ingredients, you'll find plenty more in my cookbook, Allergy-Free Tastes Good to Me.
I created this cookbook to prove that eating gluten-free and dairy-free doesn't mean giving up the foods you love. Inside you'll find 93 delicious recipes for breakfasts, soups and stews, easy dinners, side dishes, snacks, and healthy treats—along with practical tips to make healthy eating easier in real life.
Because healthy food should still taste really good.
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