This is one for which you can have all the ingredients lounging in your pantry/freezer any time, or at least until the canned goods expire. The only need-to-shop-now, fresh additions might be a handful of chopped fresh herbs or a couple cups of leftover roasted/grilled/sauteed veggies. I wouldn't go out of my way to cook anything special for this recipe, but if you've got some leftover zucchini or eggplant, this is a great way to use it up.A traditional puttanesca sauce uses anchovies, black olives, capers and tomatoes for its base. If you think you don't like anchovies, think again. Anchovies are the major flavor ingredient in Worcestershire sauce, giving it the full, rich, salty, umami quality that Worcestershire sauce brings to your favorite marinade (which makes Worcestershire sauce not vegetarian, for anyone who cooks for vegetarian types).
I choose to use sardines here because I'm currently hot for them, dietarily speaking, for the reasons outlined here. You can use tuna or the traditional anchovies, if you prefer. If using tuna or sardines, you can choose to leave them quite chunky (so as to be easily picked around) or flake them up quite a bit before adding to the sauce so they become more of a flavorful ghost in the machine rather than an upfront protein.
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