Spaghetti with Tuna Fish, spaghetti con tonno, Aaron's pasta palazzo, a growing archive of all that is pasta

SPAGHETTI CON TONNO

Spaghetti with Tuna fish

Serves 4-5 as a main course

I have been trying to come up with a pasta sauce using tuna fish for ages, but to no avail. Then I discovered Italian tuna in olive oil. It is a wonderful ingredient and only needs a little encouragement to strut its stuff. Here is the result.
This sauce does not keep well.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
200ml (7 fl oz) tomato pulp
300g (10½ oz) Italian tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked (keep two tablespoons of the oil)
15g (½ oz) butter
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon of black olives, chopped (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g (1lb 2oz) spaghetti

METHOD

Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the finely chopped garlic until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the reserved oil from the tuna and the tomato pulp, stir well and simmer for about twenty minutes, then remove from the heat. The sauce will have separated, but this is correct.

Meanwhile cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente (this should be done when the sauce has been simmering for about 12-15 minutes). When the spaghetti are almost ready, remove the tomatoes from the heat, add the flaked tuna and butter and mix well. Season to taste. Drain the pasta and transfer to a heated serving dish. Add the tuna sauce and toss well. Send to the table with the chopped parsley and if using, the chopped olives.

I would not serve cheese with this dish.