Tuna, Tomato & Anchovy Pasta
Never did I think I would EVER bring anchovies in my kitchen! Although many of my favorite foods use anchovies in their ingredients (Caesar salad dressing for example), cooking with them in my kitchen wasn't on my list of things to do. I went to my local Greek market and happened to see a can of anchovies sitting on the shelf with a Greek flag on them! THAT attracted me to it and I figured since its coming from the Motherland - it's worth trying! Truly a yummy dish that is full of flavor! Definitely packs a punch and worth trying at least once!
Ingredients
- 500 grams uncooked penne choose the pasta of your choice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1/2 can sardines packed in oil about 5-7 sardines, chopped up plus whole if you want to garish your dish at the end.
- 1 can tuna packed in oil you can use tuna packed in water, if you use tuna packed in oil - use the oil in the sauce. Adds incredible flavour.
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes about 2 cups sliced in half
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 onion chopped
- 5 cloves garlic sliced
- 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
- 1 cup starch water reserved from the boiled pasta
- 1/2 tsp. chili flakes if you like to add some heat (optional)
Instructions
- Boil pasta as per cooking directions on box. Make sure your pasta is al dente as it will continue cooking once it's added to the sauce. Salt your water well and make sure to reserve 1-2 cups of the starchy water from your pasta as we will need to add it to the sauce.
- In a large sauce pan add olive oil and onions and sauté until fragrant, add in the remainder of the ingredients (garlic, tuna, cherry tomatoes, green onions and spices). Do not add any salt to this dish as the tuna and the sardines are salty enough as is. Sauté on medium low heat.
- Chop up the sardines and add to the sauce and sauté. Make sure you scrape up whatever bits are at the bottom of your pan. That's where the flavor is!
- Add spinach and about 2 ladles or a cup of so of the starchy water reserved from the boiled pasta to the sauce and stir.
- Add in your boiled pasta to the sauce pan and mix well covering the pasta with the sauce. Rest for a few minutes and serve! You can add a whole sardine on top of the dish for the sardine lovers out there and top off with some grated Romano cheese. Or skip the decorative sardine and deny you ever used any at all! Shh! They'll never know!
Nutrition
Calories: 789kcal
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