Spaghetti with Canned Tuna and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients and pasta

1. If you are making spaghetti with canned tuna, buy a can of fish in its own juice. The “in tomato sauce” or “in oil” versions are acceptable in principle, but they usually contain a lot of extra seasoning and will change the taste of the finished dish quite a bit. I recommend canned chopped tomatoes: they need no extra preparation at all and are available all year round.

2. Put a pot of water (2 l) over high heat, bring to a boil and salt it: 7 g of salt per 1 l of water.

3. Add the pasta and cook for the time on the package; in that time the manufacturer guarantees an al dente texture. While the pasta cooks, make the sauce.

   We always make this dish with spaghetti, though other kinds of pasta work too, including short shapes such as fusilli, penne, tortiglioni and so on.

   

Sauce

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

2. Peel the garlic cloves and the fresh chili. Crush the garlic with the flat of a knife and cut the chili into long strips.

3. Fry the garlic and hot pepper in the oil for 2-3 minutes to flavor it. Then you can discard them. I love chili, though, so I keep it to serve with the dish.

   

4. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and salt to taste. Also add 0.5 tsp dried oregano and a scant 1 tsp sugar (5 g), so the sauce is sweet and sour. If you like, add a dried Italian herb mix to taste.

   Half a can of chopped tomatoes is enough for the sauce. But the sauce will be tastier and there will be more of it if you use the whole can, about 250-300 grams.

5. Simmer the sauce over medium heat, stirring, until thickened; usually 4-5 minutes is enough.

   

6. Drain the liquid from the can of tuna in its own juice. If the fish is in one big piece, break it into small pieces or flakes. Most often we buy “salad” tuna, which comes in small pieces and is perfect for the sauce.

7. Add the tuna to the pan, stir it into the tomatoes and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Then the sauce is ready.

   

Serving

1. Drain the cooked pasta in a colander and transfer it to the pan with the sauce.

2. Gently stir the spaghetti and the tomato sauce with canned tuna, then heat the dish over low heat for 1-2 minutes under a lid.

   

3. Divide the pasta among plates. If you like, sprinkle it with a pinch of finely chopped parsley or green onion. I always add the chili I fried at the very start. Serve the pasta with tomato and tuna hot.

   Besides the usual ingredients, you can add whole cloves (the spice) and capers to the sauce. Add olives when serving, it tastes great. In vegetable season you can use ripe tomatoes: peel them, remove the seeds, chop the flesh and make the sauce from that.