Tuna pasta

I haven’t posted any new pasta recipe for quite some time. This doesn’t mean we have stopped eating pasta. Pasta is always our family "all-time favourite " especially for my son. He eats a variety of pasta – spaghetti, angel hair, shell, macaroni, fusilli (spiral), penne, linguine & alphabet.

Good news to all the busy mommies and career women!

I am going to share a very simple pasta dish that takes only minutes to prepare. This recipe is adapted from Children’s Healthy & Fun Cookbook. I had slightly modified the recipe by adding extra vegetables to make it a wholesome meal. This is also my usual “fridge-cleaning” exercise. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone??. Hahaha!



The key ingredients for this recipe are tomatoes and tuna, the rest is up to your own creation (either add more vegetables or follow strictly the original recipe). Below are both my version and the original version for your comparison:

(My version)
Ingredients:
85 tinned tuna in olive oil (drained and broken up into chunks) – approx ½ tin
277g tomatoes (I didn’t have enough tinned tomatoes so I topped up with some fresh ones #)
80g shape pasta - I used fusilli (organic durum wheat semolina pasta)
100g red capsicum*
43g carrot*
* - other vegetables: celery, cauliflower, sweetcorns, beans and chickpeas.
1 clove garlic (crushed)
½ red onion (chopped finely)
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp olive oil
Dash of dried oregano & basil
½ tsp sugar (to taste)
salt and pepper
cooked broccoli (for garnishing) – Note: Vitamin C in the tomato sauce will help you to absorb the iron in the broccoli.

(Original version)
Ingredients:
200g tinned tuna in olive oil (drained and broken up into chunks)
800g tinned chopped tomatoes
275g pasta bows
2 large cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tsp tomato paste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano (optional)
½ tsp sugar (optional)
salt and pepper

# Tip on how to peel off tomato skin
– cut a “x” at the bottom of the tomato, put inside the boiling water for 1 min. Drain and let it cool off. Then peel off the skin with a knife .

Methods:
1) Cook pasta according to the packet instructions, until the pasta is tender but not too soft.
2) Heat oil in a large saucepan, over a medium heat. Fry garlic for 1 min. Stir in oregano & basil (if any), vegetables (if any), chopped tomatoes and tomato puree/ paste.
3) Bring the sauce to the boil and reduce the heat. Half cover the pan and simmer for 15 mins or until the sauce has reduced by a third and thickened.
4) Stir the tuna into the sauce. Half-cover the pan and heat through for 2 mins, stirring occasionally. Add some sugar to the sauce if necessary and season.
5) Drain the pasta but save 2 tbsp of the water. Return the pasta to the saucepan. Add the water and stir in the sauce until the pasta is coated.
6) Serve with grated cheese and cooked broccoli.

I am submitting this simple pasta dish to Presto Pasta Nights, founded by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast, and hosted by Inge of Vanielje Kitchen this week.

Other pasta recipes that you may like to try:
Pesto pasta
Italian pasta soup
Spaghetti bolognese