Quick Canned Tuna Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, capers, anchovies and garlic, a fabulous dish that is ready under 20 minutes. It might be simple to make, but it's jam-packed with fantastic flavours. No need for a ready-made sauce, this highly nutritious and delicious dish is a great family-favourite pasta recipe.
This awesome tuna spaghetti is inspired by Gennaro Contaldo's mouth-watering Simple Tuna Bucatini, one of Italy's finest pasta recipe. It's the perfect example that you can cook pasta in thousand of ways, and still never get bored of it.
Canned tuna, apart from being affordable, it's also really tasty, and can totally transform a pretty simple dish into a spectacular one. Fresh fish can be pricey, no doubt about that. And if you need to feed a larger family, one meal can become quite expensive.
So, how about keeping costs low without compromising on taste? Pasta, the humble pasta is always to the rescue when we run out of ideas what else to cook for dinner. Now, pair tuna with pasta, and you get a dish that even fussy eaters will eat up.
With no sauce added, all its goodness comes from the fresh tomatoes, capers, anchovies and tuna. And good-quality olive oil is always a must.
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Ingredients needed
- spaghetti - or any other pasta shape
- tomatoes - either tomatoes on the vine or cherry tomatoes
- garlic - the more, the better
- capers - add a lovely flavour, a little goes a long way
- anchovy fillets - they melt leaving behind a lovely flavour
- fresh lemon juice
- dried Italian herbs - or just oregano if you don't have any herbs
- freshly chopped parsley - gives colour and flavour
- olive oil - extra virgin if possible
- canned tuna
Step-by-step photos and instructions
This dish is simplicity at its best. It's quick, it's easy, and it's super delicious too. Every recipe has some secret ingredients that give that wow taste, and for this dish, anchovies and capers make all the difference. You won't get to see the anchovies in the final dish, since they melt away, but the flavour is there.
- cook the pasta according to the packet instructions
- in a pan, heat up the oil, add the garlic and anchovies, and cook for about 30 seconds or so, the garlic will release it's flavour, and the achovies will melt
- add the cherry tomatoes and capers, and leave to cook until the tomatoes are mushy, it shouldn't take long
- toss in the pasta, lemon juice, Italian herbs, and check if it needs any seasoning
- serve hot with fresh parsley
Easy swaps
You can get capers and anchovies from pretty much any store, and with one small jar of each, you can easily cook at least 4-5 times. So, again, we are talking about shopping the smart way.
Another fabulous addition is fresh lemon juice. This really gives this tuna spaghetti dish that killer final touch. You can never go wrong with a bit of lemon in pasta dishes, especially when you don't use the good old tomato juice.
I used tomatoes on the vine, but if you like to get a thicker sauce, you can use a tin of chopped tomatoes, and let them simmer until reduced by half. The fresh tomatoes, however, will bring that fresh touch I was after, and also a tad of sweetness to the dish.
The chopped tomatoes tend to be a bit acidic, you can really tell the difference. By no mean, I have nothing against canned chopped tomatoes, I used them a lot in my everyday cooking. But some recipes can do with just a handful of fresh tomatoes, like this dish.
To garnish, you can either go for fresh parsley, like I did, or fresh basil, or a combination of the two. Apart from that spash of colour, the fresh herbs will will bring that wow factor to an already perfect dinner. Only 122 calories per serving, what a treat!
Expert tips
This dish doesn't take long at all to cook. You can prepare the rest of the ingredients while the spaghetti are cooking, and if you like them al dente, that won't take long at all.
The tomatoes only need less than 4-5 minutes to become mushy, so it's best to have all the ingredients ready to use. The prep is minimal as it is, that's what's so amazing about this pasta dish!
Other tuna recipes
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Tuna Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 200 g packet of spaghetti
- 4 tomatoes on the vine
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 3 anchovy fillets
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsely
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tin of tuna
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
- Heat up the oil in a pan, then chop the garlic and achovy fillets and add them to the pan.
- Cook the garlic and anchovies for about 30 seconds, the anchovies will completely melt away.
- Chop the tomatoes, and add them to the pan together with the capers - leave to cook until the tomatoes will become mushy, that should not take longer than 4-5 minutes.
- Toss in the pasta, lemon juice, flaked tuna, Italian herbs and parsley, give it a good stir, and remove from the heat.
- Serve hot!
Video
Notes
- I used cherry tomatoes, but if you like to get a thicker sauce, you can use a tin of chopped tomatoes, and let them simmer until reduced by half.
- The fresh tomatoes, however, will bring that fresh touch I was after, and also a tad of sweetness to the dish.
- The chopped tomatoes tend to be a bit acidic, you can really tell the difference. By no mean, I have nothing against canned chopped tomatoes, I used them a lot in my everyday cooking. But some recipes can do with just a handful of fresh tomatoes, like this dish.
Mary Tognazzini
A MUST TRY. I HAVE USED SALMON IN PASTA BUT STARKIST TUNA IN OIL IS A FAVOERITE.
Wendy Liquori
Easy healthy and delicious! This is a keeper.