Canned Tuna Pasta with Tomato Sauce

A pasta dish made with canned tuna is so quintessentially Italian - in the sense that it's the dish Italians turn to when they want something quick, simple and flavorful to eat. Made with pantry ingredients (garlic, canned tuna, tomato passata), the sauce is quickly simmered and then mixed with cooked pasta.

Did you know that canned tuna pasta is the Italian college student's version of ramen noodles? As in, it's a cheap, quick easy meal that college students are known to make.

But canned tuna pasta isn't just limited to college students in Italy. This Italian pasta is a staple in my Italian kitchen. It's also for the busy family that needs something easy to make for lunch or dinner for their kids. It's for the single person that needs a quick dinner before going out for drinks with friends. In sum, it's for anyone looking to make a quick meal.

The best part is that it uses simple pantry ingredients that most people will already have on hand. In fact, when I was in Italy this past summer, I made this pasta often for my family because we always had the ingredients stocked.

By the way, if you're looking for a version without tomatoes, check out my tuna spaghetti recipe here.

If you're looking to make a full meal with this dish, you can serve this pasta as a first course, along with a potato frittata or Italian grilled eggplant as a second course/side dish.

Notes on Canned Tuna

The tuna in this recipe is added to the sauce at the very end because canned tuna is already cooked, so there's no need to cook it more. It's fine to just get it warmed through.

I suggest to add the olive oil from the cans of tuna to the sauce. Keep in mind that this will make the finished pasta dish a bit on the oilier side (but not overly oily). You can also drain the cans of the olive oil if you'd like to make the dish less oily.

It is possible to use canned tuna in water. If you do, add an extra tablespoon of olive oil in the beginning of the recipe. Although I do suggest tuna in olive oil because it's more flavorful.

How to make it

Make the sauce: sauté the garlic cloves in olive oil, add the passata, let it cook down slightly. Add in the tuna.

Combine sauce and pasta: add cooked pasta to the sauce and mix well until pasta is evenly coated.

Top tips/Variations

• You can add a few anchovies to the olive oil and garlic to give an extra burst of flavor
• You can use fresh tomatoes instead of tomato passata in this recipe, and it would be just as delicious
• This recipe uses whole garlic cloves which are then removed from the sauce after the garlic has subtly infused the olive oil and tomatoes with garlic flavor. This is a traditional Italian way to use garlic - it's meant to enhance the dish, not overpower! But if you prefer a stronger garlic flavor, you can finely chop it instead of leaving it whole.
• There's no need to sprinkle grated parmigiano reggiano on this dish - typically Italians will not add parmigiano to this dish because it includes seafood. Generally (there are exceptions though!) Italians do not mix seafood and cheese.

Storing

If there are any leftovers, place them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. When ready to eat, heat up in a pan over medium heat on the stove.

Recipe