Pasta with Tuna, Tomatoes and Black Olives
Pasta with Tuna, Tomatoes, and Black Olives is a perfect pasta dish for those nights when you need a quick and easy dinner that still has tons of flavour! The sauce comes together in the time it takes to cook the pasta.
To get a jump on things, prep the ingredients for the sauce while you are waiting for the water for the pasta to come to a boil. The sauce comes together in as little time as it takes to cook the pasta.
One of the great things about this dish is that you probably have most of the ingredients on hand already; dried pasta, tuna, olives, capers, garlic, anchovies and olive oil.
Add to that a few fresh ingredients, a lemon, some cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and you have all you need to make this delicious pasta dish.
The Anchovies
I know a lot of people think they don’t like anchovies! You can definitely leave them out, but I encourage you to give them a try.
The anchovy fillets are sautéed with garlic in olive oil until the fillets completely dissolve, infusing the olive oil with their slightly salty, umami flavour. When combined with the other ingredients it adds depth to the flavour of the sauce without overpowering the other ingredients.
The Tuna
For the most flavourful tuna look for tuna fillets packed in olive oil in a jar. It is a bit more expensive then canned, but you only need one jar for 4 servings of this dish. If you are using canned tuna, make sure to buy solid not flaked, as you want chunks of tuna in the sauce.
I’m lucky enough to live near a large Portuguese community here in Toronto so I can often find tuna in a jar imported from Portugal that is less expensive than the Italian tuna available in most supermarkets.
The Tomatoes
I like to use cherry tomatoes in this dish as they had a wonderful fresh pop of tomato flavour. If you don’t have fresh cherry tomatoes, any fresh chopped tomato will work, or in a pinch substitute a cup or so of canned diced tomatoes.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 226 grams Dried spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more to drizzle over the finished pasta
- 130 grams tuna fillets from a jar (or 1 can solid tuna)
- 255 grams cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 clove garlic finely minced
- 1-2 anchovy fillets (optional)
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 12-15 black olives pitted
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- ¾ to 1 cup basil leaves plus more for garnish
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until el dente, about 10 minutes.
- In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Add the minced garlic, and the anchovies (if using) and cook for 1-2 minutes. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to smash the anchovies so that they break up and dissolve into the oil.
- Next add the tomatoes and capers, cook until the tomatoes begin to burst and release their juices.
- Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.Add the pasta to the sauté pan along with the olives, and the lemon juice and zest. Break the tuna into bite sized chunks and add to the pan. Toss well, adding some of the reserved pasta cooking water or some olive oil if needed. Remove the pan from the heat, add the basil and freshly ground black pepper and give the pan another toss.
- Serve drizzled with olive oil and garnished with basil leaves.