It’s the June holidays! I immediately wanted to share this tuna tomato pasta recipe to you, busy mums, who expertly juggle between parenting, being the in-house chef, and a working adult! I can definitely relate to coming home to hungry but cute Lil monsters in the evenings.
Tuna tomato pasta is one of my favourite dishes to whip up when I don’t have the time and energy to shop but rely on some pantry staples to do the work for me. For this recipe, you just need exactly 8 ingredients and 30 minutes (5 minutes prep and 25 minutes cooking time) to make dinner happen!
I love canned tuna! And when turned into this pasta dish, you can hardly tell if it’s tuna or chicken. I’ve tricked a child or two (and the odd adult) into thinking this is chicken. Good quality, tuna chunks in water, when cooked into a sauce like this, hardly have any “fishy” smell to them. I am talking directly to you mums who have fussy house-mates!
The carrots and onions give it a lovely sweetness and the celery a convincing amount of earthiness. I’ve kept the proportion of celery low because….
- I don’t like celery
- I can do whatever I want 😆
Once your tri-coloure of vegetables has been chopped up into small cubes, heat up a large pan and pour a generous amount of olive oil.
Cook until all the vegetables have softened nicely, for about 6-8 minutes on medium-high heat.
Stir in a can of chopped tomatoes. I like to mash some, releasing its natural sweetness while leaving the other as chunks for texture. Leave it to cook for another 5 minutes and season with salt, pepper, and a dash of sugar.
In the meantime, boil pasta water, with plenty of salt, and cook as per package instructions. Reserve some pasta water for later.
Add the chunks of tuna, without water, into your pan. Give this a good stir, mashing some of the tuna chunks, and leave it to simmer for a few minutes.
Toss in your cooked pasta along with about 1/4 cup of pasta water. The starch form the pasta water helps bind all the ingredients together making a thicker sauce which add plenty of flavours.
Chop up some parsley and voila! A quick, delicious and nutritious dinner is ready to be served!
I usually just bring the hot pan straight to the dining table and let the kids sprinkle as much cheese as they see fit. Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed this recipe and leave in the comments what other recipes you’d like to see and try to cook! Don’t forget to check out the full video on my Instagram page or TikTok!
Easy to Make Kid-Friendly Tuna Tomato Pasta
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Tea-TimeCuisine: Pescatarian, Fish, TunaDifficulty: Easy4
servings5
minutes25
minutesIngredients
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of tuna chunks in water
1 medium onion
1 celery stalk
1 medium carrots
7-8 stalks of Italian parsley
300g of penne pasta
1/4 cup of pasta water
Salt, pepper and sugar (to taste)
Parmesan cheese (optional for topping)
Directions
- Chop all vegetables: onion, celery stalk, carrots into small cubes
- Heat olive oil in a large pan and fry the chopped vegetables and cook in medium-high heat for 6-8 minutes
- Once soft and caramalised, pour in a can of chopped tomatoes and stir to combine. Smash a few chopped tomatoes in the pan and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.
- In a pot, cook pasta according to package directions, adding a generous amount of salt into the water.
- Add tuna chunks into the pan of tomatoes, omitting the tuna water, and combine. Break up some of the larger chunks of tuna. Cook sauce for a few more minutes while waiting for the pasta to be al dente.
- Add in cooked pasta and about 1/4 cup of pasta water and toss to combine.
- Chop or tear some parsley and add into the pan.
- Serve with grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!
