A Tuna, Olive & Tomato Pasta Recipe For An Easy Weeknight Dinner
You may have stocked up on canned goods, but we're quickly running through our arsenal of recipes that use these canned foods. One thing we'll never tire of? Pasta. And this recipe from Simple Beautiful Food takes the best of canned ingredients to make something that will satisfy any salt craving.
Just where does that salty flavor come from? In part, the Castelvetrano olives you'll be putting and slicing to toss with your pasta. These green olives hail from Sicily and have more of their natural olive taste than their vinegar-cured relations. You'll find them in jars, not cans, but they're still a good pantry item for adding a buttery bite to favorite dishes.
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After we got talking with some registered dietitians about the glories of canned fish, we realized we'd maybe been sleeping on these low-cost, sustainable protein sources. While canned tuna may bring to mind images of mayonnaise-y tuna salads, this one-pot wonder flips it into a satisfying pasta dish (no mayo required). We may have more time on our hands, but that doesn't mean we're hoping to spend it all doing dishes—another reason to make this a weeknight staple.
Pasta With Tuna, Castelvetrano Olives & Blistered Cherry Tomatoes
Makes about 4 servings
Ingredients
- 12 ounces dried pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes
- ½ cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted and thinly sliced
- 5 ounces canned tuna
- Red pepper flakes, to taste
- Fresh basil, to taste
- Parmesan cheese, to taste
Method
- Cook 12 ounces of dried pasta according to the package instructions.
- Drain, rinse with cool water, and set aside.
- In the same pan, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
- Add 1 minced shallot, 2 minced cloves of garlic, and 3 cups of cherry tomatoes and sauté, covered, for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are blistered and soft.
- Toss the cooked pasta with the tomatoes, along with ½ cup of pitted and thinly sliced Castelvetrano olives and 5 ounces of drained canned tuna.
- Garnish with fresh basil, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes.
Tip: Cut cherry tomatoes in half if they are large.
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Eliza Sullivan is an SEO Editor at mindbodygreen, where she writes about food, recipes, and nutrition—among other things. She received a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in english literature with honors from Boston University, and she has previously written for Boston Magazine, TheTaste.ie, and SUITCASE magazine.