Creamy, spicy, saucy, this is the weeknight pasta of dreams. This Spicy Tuna Pasta is so simple but truly one of those dishes that once you try, you won’t believe how easy it really was.
Making the sauce takes as long as it takes to cook the pasta – an important feature for a weeknight pasta in my opinion – and it has so much flavour behind it. There's hardly any chopping involved, which means less faff and less washing up. The best part of this spicy tuna pasta recipe is that it doesn’t taste like a weeknight pasta. What I mean by that is you could serve this to friends and it definitely is a few levels above serving straight pesto pasta.
We used to have a version of this when I was younger which I think was based on an Antonio Carluccio recipe where he uses ginger in the sauce and then I saw the brilliant chef Ixta Belfrage cook her dad's tuna pasta which uses curry powder and that's now how I make mine. You wouldn't expect the flavour to work so well but it really does. So delicious.
The key to this recipe is buying tuna in oil. I know often times we will reach for tuna in brine or water when it’s on the shelf but trust me when I say, if you want this recipe to create the most smooth sauce, buying in oil is a must. It’s easy to find tuna in sunflower oil but if you want to be really luxurious then tuna in olive oil is delicious. The one you find in a jar with the big chunks of tuna. So delicious.
Other pasta recipes to try
- Quick Lentil Bolognese with Pouch Lentils
- Spicy Nduja Pasta Recipe with Double Cream
- Easy Creamy Sausage and Fennel Pasta
- Creamy Ricotta Pasta Recipe with Lemon
- Creamy Boursin Pasta with Artichokes
Spicy Tuna Pasta with Chilli & Cherry Tomatoes
Deliciously simple, this spicy tuna pasta with cherry tomatoes, cream and chilli is so good and only takes 15 minutes.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 x 160g tinned tuna
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250g ripe cherry tomatoes
- 50g tomato puree
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- ½ tsp mild curry powder
- small pinch of dried chilli flakes
- 250g paccheri pasta (fat, wide rigatoni almost - use rigatoni if you can't find!)
- 70g parmesan
- 80g double cream
- handful of parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
- Get your pasta into salted boiling water and cook until al dente.
- Meanwhile, take a frying pan and add the olive oil to the pan over medium-high. Add in the crushed garlic and cook for 30 seconds before adding the tomatoes. Season well and cook for a few minutes until they start to burst, mash them gently with a wooden spoon.
- Then add add the tuna along with its oil from the tin, the tomato puree, curry powder, and chilli flakes. Season generously with flakey salt and a lot of black pepper.
- Turn down on a medium heat and allow to cook for about 5 minutes until everything has softened and it's looking more like a sauce. Keep smooshing the tomatoes Add the cooked pasta and a good glug of pasta cooking water (important). Add the parmesan and double cream and toss well to combine.
- Taste and season. Add the chopped parsley and stir.
- Plate up with lots more parmesan on the top a drizzle of olive oil and enjoy!
Notes
Make sure you use tuna in oil for the best results.
If you want it spicier, add more chilli flakes!
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