no-cook pasta sauce with tuna and cherry tomatoes Recipe
no-cook pasta sauce with tuna and cherry tomatoes
strozzapreti pasta with tuna, cherry tomatoes, olives
This pasta is good for:
when there is no time to make dinner but you still want real food
the pantry is empty (or almost)
it’s Monday
you are on low cal
before leaving for holidays
returning from holidays
unexpected informal dinner guests
whenever
This pasta has a sad version and a happy version. To make the happy version you must:
always have some bronze-drawn durum wheat pasta or frozen fresh pasta and really good extra-virgin olive oil
use high quality tuna packed in oil, even better if it’s in olive oil (I use Rio Mare)
Neglecting all the above will result in the sad version. Keeping a bunch of cherry tomatoes in your freezer is a life saver.
Recipe
- one 200 gr (6 1/2 ounce) can imported Italian tuna in olive oil, drained and separated into chunks
- 2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
- 250 gr (1/2 lb) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 300 gr/ 10 ounces spaghetti
- a pinch sugar, salt
- Optional:
- 100 gr (3.5 oz) pitted and chopped Kalamata olives
- 1 tablespoon capers preserved in salt, washed and drained
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1 fresh chili pepper
Using a shallow pan – a frying pan with high sides is ideal – saute the garlic in 2 tablespoon olive oil over very low heat. Do not brown the garlic, you only want to flavor the oil. Add the tuna chunks and stir until just warm. Add olives and/or capers if using. Increase heat, add tomatoes and saute quickly until they are only warmed through. They should not cook and lose their shape. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar, add chili pepper if using and turn off the heat. The whole preparation should not take more than 5 min.
Meanwhile cook the pasta according to package instructions, or 1-2 min if using fresh pasta. The sauce is light and relatively dry, so it is suitable for spaghetti or short pasta shapes like the strozzapreti I used for the photo. It does not work well with fettuccine and the like.
When the pasta is cooked, turn the heat under the sauce pan to high. Drain and transfer to the sauce pan. Stir the pasta quickly into the sauce as explained here. Add some pasta water – up to one tablespoon per person – and stir some more until the excess liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with parsley and drizzle with fruity extra virgin olive oil. Serve on warm plates at once.
Serves 2-3
Filed under All Seasons, Dried Pasta, Fresh Pasta, Pasta, Recipes, Sauces