Fusilli with tuna sauce recipe

Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes

Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno)

It's quick to prepare and ideal for a summer lunch. Tuna tins are sometimes underestimated, so I strongly recommend always having few tins in your larder; they can come useful for a quick lunch, especially when you have an unexpected guest and you do not have a clue about what to offer for lunch.
4 from 1 vote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4
Calories 650 kcal

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Ingredients
 

  • 400 grams (14 oz) Fusilli pasta
  • 60 ml (2 fl oz) Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Small shallot (finely chopped)
  • 1 Clove of garlic (crashed)
  • 150 grams (5 oz) Tuna (1 small can of tuna in olive oil does the job)
  • 400 grams (14 oz) Can of chopped tomatoes
  • A small handful of flat leaf parsley (roughly chopped)
  • Salt and ground pepper for seasoning
  • Anchovy paste (optional)

Instructions

  • Put the olive oil in a frying pan (medium heat), crush the garlic clove and sweat it off until golden brown, then discard the garlic.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Immediately, after having removed the garlic, add the chopped shallot and sweat it off until golden brown.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • At this stage you have the chance of adding some anchovy paste (1 teaspoon) as an option. If you want to enhance the fishy flavour, do it!
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Stir until the anchovy paste is melted and evenly distributed (it's just a matter of seconds).
  • Then, add the chopped tomatoes.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Stir and try to break the chopped tomatoes in order to make the sauce a bit thinner. Using Italian "passata di pomodoro" would save you time because you do not have to break the chopped tomatoes.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Cook for 5 minutes and then season with salt.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Season with pepper.
  • Add the tuna.
  • Break the tuna in small parts and stir to evenly distribute.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Now, turn the heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • In the last 30 seconds of cooking, add the parsley.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Stir to evenly distribute and turn the heat off.
  • The sauce is ready to be added to the pasta.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Add the sauce to the drained pasta.
    Fusilli with tuna sauce (Fusilli al tonno) | Pasta recipes
  • Stir in order to coat the pasta evenly with the sauce.
  • Serve it and remember, a good glass of chilled white wine is the perfect accompaniment. Buon appetito! 
    Note: please, do not use any Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese on pasta served with fish sauces. This is the number one rule that unfortunately is often forgotten by some restaurants abroad. In the UK, where I live, I found several restaurants that are known for Italian cooking but apparently their staff is not very well trained…no further comment!

Nutrition

Calories: 650kcal
Keyword Pasta
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Published
Categorised as Pasta

By Federico

Federico Pezzaioli is an ex-badass Italian Paratrooper on a mission - to make creating delicious authentic Italian food really easy. He researches, writes and photographs each recipe with the same attention to detail he used to apply to packing his parachute.

One comment

  1. 4 stars
    Oh my goodness, this is a dish I grew up with everyone in my family made this my grandmother my aunts and of course my man. But you never see this offered in restaurants or mentioned anywhere. I’ll even occasionally mention it to friends and they look at me like I’m strange as if to say who puts tunafish in a sauce? Lol. And I tried to explain to them that it’s a simple dish not all that fire from perhaps clam sauce well maybe. But to see it here almost exactly is my family makes it makes me want to cry. Because most of them have passed away over the years and yet it’s the food that even when I try to make it makes me feel like there still here.

4 from 1 vote

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