Tags: Little Foodies Pasta People Quick Recipes Weekday Meals

My mom makes the best tuna sandwiches in town, and it’s because she makes “everything but the kitchen sink” tuna sandwiches. Her tuna has onions, pickles, walnuts, cabbage and a million other ingredients that make it over-the-top delicious. It’s not your average tuna sandwich by any means. It’s a tuna sandwich on steroids!!

When Adrian and I were first married, he offered to make us tuna sandwiches for lunch one day, and I thought that was just the sweetest…and he was the sweetest, and our whole life together was just the sweetest…until he put the tuna sandwich in front of me. It was tuna on bread. There was no crunch from the walnuts or pickles, no freshness from the cabbage, and it had an overwhelmingly fishy taste. I very sweetly ate my sandwich, and when we were done ran to the kitchen trash to see if the tuna had expired or if it was even tuna to begin with. Low and behold it WAS tuna and it wasn’t even expired. I realized something very important that day…I don’t like tuna. It’s just too fishy if it’s not smothered by a million other ingredients.

Thankfully, It didn’t take me long to convert Adrian over to the “Jenny Tuna” doctrine and we’ve eaten it that way ever since.

While I may not like the full flavor of tinned tuna, I can truly appreciate its convenience. How many other meals are as easy to put together? And you know me, I’m all for easily-put-together meals! The trick is to slightly (or fully) disguise the tuna in a plethora of other flavors. This pantry pasta is one of my favorite ways to do that. I could live off meatless pasta, but my guys want the meat. They’re meat eaters…especially Silas.  

We took the boys to Taco Bell for the first time a few months back and when we put the soft taco down in front of Silas he took one look at the lettuce peeking out of the top, screwed up his little face in disgust, and said, “What’s this salad?!” We died laughing! It took us a few minutes to convince him to try it…Adrian had to pull back the tortilla and show him the meat hidden within. This is why we could never go meatless in our house…Silas would starve in protest!!

My way of combining my love of pasta, and my guys’ need for protein, is meat-packed pasta. I have recipes for chicken pasta, steak pasta, ground meat pasta, and sausage pasta, but this tuna packed pasta is a favorite in our house. Chunky tomato sauce with flaky tuna and yummy notes of white wine and lemon. It’s seriously delicious and incredibly simple to put together.

NOTE: This recipe also calls for canned tomatoes. Tinned tuna, canned tomatoes, and packaged pasta…it doesn’t get easier than that!

PANTRY PASTA – Pasta al Tonno

• 1 lb pasta, shape of your choice
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes
• 2 4oz. cans tuna in olive oil, broken up
• ½ cup white wine
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Handful of arugula, optional
• Fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• Lemon wedges, for serving

How To:

Set a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Cook preferred pasta according to package instructions, making sure to cook just under al dente (the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.)

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over med-high heat, heat olive oil. Once oil is hot, add the onions and sauté until soft. Add garlic and red pepper flakes (if using), cook until just fragrant.

Add the canned tomatoes and let cook down until some of the juice has evaporated—about 5 minutes. Add tuna and cook about 3 minutes. Bring the heat up a bit and add the wine. Bring to a simmer and let cook down until reduced by half—about 4 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Your pasta should be about finished at the same time your sauce is wrapping up. Add the pasta directly into the skillet with about ½ cup of the pasta cooking liquid.

If using arugula, add that with the pasta and pasta water. Cook until the arugula just starts to wilt, tossing constantly.

Add parsley to taste and toss to coat.

Serve with lemon wedges.

NOTES:

If you’re not making this for little ones, I strongly suggest adding the red pepper flakes…the added heat elevates this dish beautifully.