Jamie Oliver’s speedy salsa spaghetti is a no-cook pasta, made by tossing hot spaghetti through a raw salsa of chopped ripe tomatoes, olives, capers, basil and Parmesan. It comes together in 14 minutes and serves 4.
In Simply Jamie (2024) it’s his summer celebration of tomatoes. Nothing gets simmered. The olives, capers and a splash of red wine vinegar give it a salty, tangy puttanesca edge, but everything stays fresh and raw rather than cooked down into a sauce.
The step that makes it work is the starchy pasta water. You save a mugful, then use it to loosen the salsa as you toss the hot pasta through. That starch pulls the olive oil and tomato juices into a glossy sauce that clings to every strand.
Jamie Oliver Speedy Salsa Spaghetti
Course: Dinner, LunchCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4
servings6
minutes8
minutes573
kcal14
minutesJamie’s 14-minute no-cook pasta from Simply Jamie: a raw chopped salsa of ripe tomatoes, olives and capers, warmed only by the hot spaghetti tossed through it.
Ingredients
300g (10½ oz) dried spaghetti
500g (1 lb 2 oz) ripe mixed-colour tomatoes
50g (1¾ oz) mixed green & black olives, stone in
50g (1¾ oz) baby capers in brine
½ a clove of garlic
½ a bunch of basil (15g)
40g (1½ oz) Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
Directions
- Cook the pasta:Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.
- Chop the salsa:Quarter and core the tomatoes and destone the olives, then finely chop them together. Put them in a large bowl with the capers.
- Dress it:Peel and finely grate in the garlic. Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Tear in the basil, keeping the baby leaves back, and mix well.
- Toss:Drain the pasta, saving a mugful of starchy cooking water, then tip the pasta into the salsa. Finely grate in the Parmesan and toss together, loosening with a splash of cooking water if needed. Season to perfection.
- Serve:Scatter with the reserved baby basil leaves and finish with a few gratings of Parmesan.
FAQs
Why isn’t the sauce cooked?
Leaving the tomatoes raw is the whole point. Cooking them down would dull the bright, fresh flavour Jamie’s after, so instead the heat of the drained pasta warms the salsa just enough to bring it together. You get a sauce that tastes of summer, not one that’s been stewed.
Chop the salsa first and let it sit while the pasta boils. In those few minutes the tomatoes release their juices and the flavours mingle, so it’s ready to coat the spaghetti the moment it’s drained. For another quick pasta with a barely-cooked sauce, Jamie’s jarred pepper pasta works on the same fast principle.
What tomatoes should I use?
This dish lives or dies on the tomatoes, because they are the sauce. Use the ripest you can find, and mixed colours if you can get them, for the sweetest flavour and prettiest bowl. Hard, pale, underripe tomatoes will leave it watery and bland.
Keep them at room temperature, not straight from the fridge, since cold flattens their taste. Out of peak season, ripe cherry or vine tomatoes are your best bet, and a tiny pinch of sugar in the salsa helps if they’re a little sharp.
Why save the starchy pasta water?
That cloudy water is doing real work. The starch it carries helps the olive oil and tomato juices emulsify into a glossy sauce that clings to the spaghetti, rather than pooling at the bottom of the bowl. It’s the difference between coated pasta and wet pasta.
Add it a splash at a time as you toss, not all at once. You want just enough to loosen everything into a silky sauce. This is the step most people skip, and it’s the one that makes a no-cook pasta taste properly finished.
How is this different from puttanesca?
They share a flavour family, the olives, capers and tomatoes, so it tastes familiar. But puttanesca is a cooked sauce, fried with anchovies and chilli and simmered down. This is raw, meat-free and off the heat, which makes it lighter, fresher and far quicker.
If you love the salty, briny hit, this gives you most of it in a fraction of the time. Skip the anchovy entirely, and let the capers and olives carry the savoury depth. It’s puttanesca’s easy summer cousin.
Can I make it ahead or add protein?
The salsa itself improves with a short sit, up to an hour, as the tomatoes macerate. Keep it at room temperature and toss it with the pasta only when you’re ready to eat, because dressed spaghetti softens fast and won’t wait.
To make it more of a meal, flaked tuna, torn mozzarella or a handful of grilled prawns all work stirred through at the end. A scatter of toasted pine nuts adds crunch. None of it changes the method, just the finish.
What do I serve with it, and is it good cold?
A hunk of bread to mop the bowl and a sharp green salad are all it needs. It’s best warm, just tossed, when the sauce is glossiest. That said, leftovers are surprisingly good at room temperature the next day, more of a pasta salad.
For a light starter to go before it, Jamie’s olives greek salad keeps the fresh, Mediterranean mood going. You’ll find plenty more quick suppers on the Jamie Oliver recipes page.
