Our favourite combination of common pantry ingredients create a sophisticated dish fit for any pasta lover
Spaghetti is a truly romantic meal. No matter how you dress it, it always brings me back to that classic scene from Disney’s Lady and the Tramp. Who could forget two adorable cartoon dogs sharing a long string of spaghetti between them? Iconic. This Lemon Tuna Pasta we are highlighting today is a staple on our household menu. My boyfriend might even say this is the dish that won me over. Or a variation of said dish, as he keeps the exact recipe a secret and one that he only makes for me. How sweet is that? I know, he’s a keeper.
There is a certain satisfaction that comes from the ability to create something out of nothing. In this lemon tuna pasta, we have combined a few of our favourite pantry ingredients that are commonly stocked in our kitchen. We always look forward to pasta night and this has been a mainstay in our household menu.
Introducing the flavourful stars of this dish:
- Spaghetti
- Fresh Dill
- Capers
- Lemon
- Canned tuna
- Parmesan
We encourage you to always make the most of what you have already in your kitchen. Take advantage of peak seasonal produce, herbs, and whatever pantry essentials are on sale at the grocery store. You may sub the dill in this recipe for cilantro or flat leaf parsley to use up what you have on hand. We always have a few lemons hanging out on our countertops since we love making cocktails (see our collection of cocktail recipes of you are curious about what we are sipping). Treat yourself to some fresh 18 month Parmesan next time you’re at the market. Having the fresh stuff to grate as you need is several orders of magnitude better than the pre-grated Kraft Parmesan powder found in the canned pasta sauce isle. Plus it keeps well for ages in the fridge!
Perfectly cooked pasta is the key in this recipe
Make sure your boiling water is generously seasoned with salt. This will help enhance the flavour of the pasta itself. Cooking it al dente will result in a chewy texture which is essential when highlighting pasta as the real star of the dish. There is nothing worse than an overcooked noodle so keep an eye on that pasta to avoid crossing into mushy spaghetti territory.
There is an abundance of quality pastas available at our local markets. One of our favourites is the La Molisana brand, pictured above. This one is pretty easy to track down; plus it’s inexpensive so it’s easy to stock up on our favourite shapes without breaking the bank. We are also huge fans of InGrain Pastificio, which is produced locally in North Vancouver. We cook pasta often so look out for future recipes featuring their products on this blog!
Give this simple and quick lemon tuna pasta recipe a try at home and let us know what you think! What are your favourite household pasta dinner recipes? Leave us a comment below!
Lemony Tuna & Dill Pasta
Ingredients
- 225 grams spaghetti about half of a standard sizedpackage
- 1 can olive oil-packed tuna small 3 oz can
- 2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- 1/2 lemon zested
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 tbsp capers drained
- 2 tbsp fresh dill chopped
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- red pepper flakes to taste
Instructions
- Bring large pot of water to a rolling boil.
- Drain tuna from packing oil and put into a bowl.
- Add garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, capers to the bowl.
- Combine with a fork. Be mindful to gently press and separate any chunks of tuna to a size and texture where they would easily adhere to the pasta.
- Rest on the counter to let these ingredients marry while the pasta cooks.
- Cook and drain pasta as per package instructions. Pasta should be al dente. No pasta water needs to be reserved for this recipe.
- Add all components previously combined in a bowl, to the cooked and drained pasta.
- We prefer to introduce parmesan and black pepper at this point, lightly coating all of the pasta while tossing and combining.
- Sprinkle and gently combine most (not all) of the soft herbs for the last few tosses.
- Serve and garnish with black pepper, parmesan, red pepper flakes and any remaining soft herbs.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Cook the pasta al dente. The sauce is mixed in cold so the pasta will not cook any further during assembly.
- This recipe is based off of a small can of tuna (3oz) but can easily be doubled to accommodate a 6oz can of tuna.
- We prefer to use half a lemon’s zest so the other half of the lemon can be used to garnish an accompanying cocktail.
- We reach for this recipe when we have an abundance of leftover soft herbs. Some options include cilantro or flat-leaf parsley. Cilantro will produce a brighter result while Parsley will produce something earthier. Dill really pushes that lemon flavor even further, so use sparingly or leave out depending on your preference. We love how fresh it tastes so we always make this dish when there is leftover dill.
- Rinse the lemon in hot water before zesting to improve flavour.
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