Tomato, Shallot and Tuna Pasta
A pasta dish with canned tuna, sautéed shallot and garlic and sweet and juicy cherry tomatoes is a great way to use simple pantry ingredients to create a delicious and fresh weeknight meal.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Entree
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb pasta
- 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 shallots, minced
- 3–5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dry herbs
- salt, ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 lb grape or cherry tomatoes, (you can also use regular tomatoes, chopped)
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 2 (4.5 oz each) cans Bella Portofino yellowfin tuna packed in olive oil
- 1 – 1 1/2 Tablespoons parsley and basil, chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to how you like it. (I used rigatoni, but you can use any type of pasta that you like.) Save about a cup of the pasta water to thin out the sauce later.
- While the water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, heat about 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the minced shallots and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until tender. Add the tomatoes, seasoning with salt, ground black pepper and a mixture of dry herbs, such as dry parsley, oregano, basil, crushed red pepper flakes, etc. Adding dry herbs also gives another level of flavor and the red pepper flakes brings a bit of heat to the sauce as well.
- Cook the tomatoes until they are softened and even a bit charred in some spots, about 5-7 minutes. This will also add a lot of flavor. Pour in 1/4-1/2 cup of pasta water to the sauce, scraping the bottom of the skillet to deglaze the pan and to extract all the lovely flavors.
- Flake the tuna a bit with a fork and then add to the sauce, cooking for another minute, just to heart the tuna through.
- Add the fresh herbs and the lime juice.
- Add the sauce with the pasta, mixing to combine. If you want to, you can use the remaining pasta water to loosen up the pasta, if it needs it. This pasta dish would taste phenomenal with Garlic Bread or Garlic Knots.
- Instead of using cherry tomatoes, you can use chopped up fresh tomatoes or even canned diced tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes.