By Christine Salins.
Not mentioning any names but I know of a few people who are working their way through packets of pasta and cans of tuna after stocking up during isolation. The recipe here is right up their alley.
It’s quick and easy and since it uses low-fat cottage cheese, is relatively low in kilojoules despite having a great cheesy taste.
The recipe is based on one from www.taste.com.au that we enjoyed during isolation. With the setback in Victoria, some readers are in the unfortunate position of having to go through the whole thing again.
But even for those whose lives are getting back to normal, it’s a handy recipe for creating a weeknight meal without a lot of effort.
As the hoarders can attest, anchovies, canned tomatoes, dried pasta and canned tuna are all excellent pantry staples for rustling up an easy meal. You can play around with the ingredients according to what you have on hand.
The original recipe recommended spelt fusilli (spiral) pasta but we used a red lentil rigatoni because that was the most suitable pasta we had. We only had one small can of tuna in spring water so we supplemented it with a can of tuna in basil/tomato and we found that it gave the dish a nice flavor boost.
We drank Vignuolo Nero Di Troia 2015, Castel Del Monte, DOC, an organic wine produced by La Cantina di Andria, a co-op in Puglia. It came back with us from Italy and brought back happy memories of travelling in Puglia a few years ago. How wonderful to travel virtually even if we can no longer travel abroad.
Tuna pasta bake
Serves 6
250g spiral pasta or rigatoni
2 tsp olive oil
4 anchovies, drained, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
200g mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
Rind of 1 lemon, finely grated
1/2 cup fresh continental parsley leaves, finely chopped
200g carton low-fat cottage cheese
425g can tuna, drained and flaked
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water according to the packet directions.
While the pasta is cooking, use a deep ovenproof pot to heat oil over medium heat on the stove. Add anchovy and onion. Cook until softened then add mushrooms and garlic and cook until golden. Stir in canned tomatoes and ½ cup water. Simmer for 15 minutes or until thickened.
Stir in lemon rind, parsley (keeping aside about a tablespoon to sprinkle on top later) and half the cottage cheese. Drain the pasta and stir it into to the pot along with the flaked tuna. Top with sliced tomato, parmesan and remaining cottage cheese. Season. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Top with the remaining parsley and serve with a green salad.
