Food with JP Passion: Tuna, Lemon Pasta with Capers
By JP Kennedy
John Paul Kennedy is a self-taught cook and an avid fan of collecting cookery books with a passion for good old-fashioned home cooking. his passion for proper family cooking stems from his TWO Grandmothers who were both excellent cooks, one of whom was a trained chef. JP promises to bring us plenty of family-inspired recipes and tasty treats while showing us how to get the basics right.
This is another new dish I have sourced from a new cookbook I recently purchased by Clodagh McKenna and it’s a perfect mid-week supper dish that can be made and on the table in less than 20 minutes!
The great news is it uses a lot of staple ingredients we all tend to have in the kitchen cupboard!
If you don’t there are not many ingredients you will need to get to pull this delicious supper together.
The lemon and capers make a delicious sauce and you can use any pasta you like for this dish.
I like to use linguine pasta as the sauce coats the pasta nice and evenly.
Also best to use canned tuna in oil instead of brine as it adds flavour to the sauce and dish and you can add in chopped tomatoes or bacon lardons for additional flavour and texture!
Ingredients: (serves 4 or half everything if only catering for 2)
- 500g spaghetti or linguine
- 300g canned tuna in olive oil / sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoons of capers
- 1 clove of crushed garlic or teaspoon of garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons of chilli flakes
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons of olive or rapeseed oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
- Sea salt and ground black pepper for seasoning
Method:
1. Place a large saucepan of salted water over a high heat and bring to the boil. When the water is boiling , add the pasta and cook for about 8- 10 minutes.
2. When your pasta is cooked, drain and add back into the saucepan along with two tablespoons of the pasta water to keep it from drying out and sticking together.
3. Place a frying pan on a medium heat and add the tuna in its oil along with the garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Then stir in the capers and chilli flakes and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and zest and 1 tablespoon of olive / rapeseed oil and season with pepper.
5. Then add the tuna mixture to the pasta and mix through to combine and add the additional tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle on the flat leaf parsley – serve immediately and enjoy!
I adore tuna, I could eat it every day and combining it with a few simple flavours and pasta makes for a lovely fresh and satisfying meal.
You can of course keep some back and serve it cold the next day for lunch – Just store in the fridge and add a little drizzle of oil to moisten it again.
Also feel free to add some tomatoes, sweetcorn or fried bacon lardons for extra flavour and texture or whatever takes your fancy. A simple dish to liven up your mid-week suppers and add to you repertoire!
Contact JP On:
Twitter: @JPKCooking
Email: JPKCooking@gmail.com
Instagram: jpkennedy.kennedy
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TAGS Lifestyle
