I came up with this recipe when I lived in London, and I kept making a Jamie Oliver recipe for prawn spaghetti on repeat. One night I was out of shrimp and had the brainwave to try tuna instead. It turned out great, and I have been making it ever since.
It starts out with plenty of garlic, chili and sun-dried tomatoes — total flavour bomb — and goes up from there. The combination of these three ingredients can actually be the basis for virtually any pasta dish. Just swap out an equal measure of another protein (sausage or chicken, for example) and you’ve got a great dish no matter what.
Tuna
Tuna is a wonderfully cheap, convenient protein. It is high in omega-3 fatty acids, something we all need to be getting more of in our diets. I prefer using skipjack as it’s lower in mercury than albacore. Solid tuna (rather than flaked) works best in this recipe, as the flaked variety tends to get clumpy and doesn’t distribute well through the dish. I always stock up on tuna when it’s on sale!
Pasta
We like this recipe with spaghetti or linguine, but it works just as well with a “stabby” kind of pasta like penne. Use whatever you have on hand.
Sun-dried tomatoes
These come in a jar in the Italian area of most grocery stores. I look for ones that are packed exclusively in olive oil wherever possible. Sun-dried tomatoes in oil are a phenomenal ingredient to have on hand, as they’re packed with flavour and don’t cost much.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Sauté garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and chili flakes until the garlic is very fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add drained tuna to the pan, breaking it apart into chunks if necessary. Turn the heat down to low, allowing the tuna to warm up a little while you cook the pasta.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining, reserve one cup of cooking water.
- Add cooked pasta to the tuna pan and toss to combine. Add parmesan cheese and just enough cooking water to loosen, so that the pasta is glossy and coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with parmesan.