The second recipe which Minoo demonstrated at the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen was a pasta dish. It is a fast, easy and fresh tasting pasta. It is made with canned tuna which is usually a pantry item and freshen up with some fresh sweet tomatoes.
This fast and easy Fettuccini with Tuna and Fresh Toamatoes dish is perfect for a family meal on a busy evening.
Ingredients
- 375g fettuccine or other long pasta
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon each, dried basil and thyme
- pinch of hot pepper flakes (or to taste)
- salt
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 cans light tuna (look for Italian tuna packed in olive oil for a more intense flavour tuna); you may replace tuna with 125g chopped smoked salmon and add 1 teaspoon crushed pink or green peppercorns with the garlic or 2 tablespoons drained capers
- 4 small plum tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup whole or chopped black or green olives (optional)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Instructions
 In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook fettuccine for 10 minutes or according to package directions, until tender. You may add a few drops of oil to prevent the pasta from sticking.
Drain the pasta well. |
 While the pasta is cooking, open the canned tuna and drain. |
 In a bowl, whisk flour into milk and stir in lemon zest. |
 In a saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add dried basil and thyme, hot pepper flakes and 1/2 teaspoon salt; saute for 1 minute or until the garlic is softened. |
 Add the milk mixture and increase heat to medium and bring to a boil, whisking constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened. |
 Stir in tuna and tomatoes and heat through. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice and season to taste with salt. Add in olives. |
 Divide pasta among shallow serving bowls and spoon sauce over top or toss the pasta in the sauce and divide into individual serving. Sprinkle with fresh basil before serving.
Minoo, thank you for sharing the recipes. |
hello there…just a point about step 1…you should never put oil in the pasta water…the oil clinging to pasta will prevent sauce from nicely incorporating with the sauce…
Here is website for more detailed explanation -http://www.chow.com/stories/11268
cheers
frank
There are two schools of thought regarding oil in the pasta cooking water. In restaurants we generally toss the cooked pasta in a little oil (as little as possible) to prevent the noodles from sticking together as you prepare the sauce or whatever else you have to do for the dish. This technique did not make a difference in the way the sauce clings to the pasta. Mitch
Oil in pasta? what a joke… 1 school of thought don’t write something about cooking when you know nothing.
Lots of good quality kosher salt in the water will do. When the pasta comes out, don’t rinse under cold tap water. Spread it out on a large platter, gently sprinkle some olive oil and toss lightly. Or a bit of the sauce (if you’ve finished making it) will work as well in lieu of olive oil.
Chefs/owners of a local culinary school taught me this.