Breakfast decisions

[afuna]

Wasn't so sure about trying egg for a fourth day in a row, so I'm staring at a can of tuna, trying to figure out what I can do with it.

(Hmm. I forgot to post about yesterday's experiment, didn't I?)

Comments

[damned_colonial]

Err, I realise this isn't really breakfast, now I come to read the actual title of your post.

[afuna]

Breakfast or not, I would appreciate the recipe *grin*

[damned_colonial]

OK, so, you start by putting on a big pot of water to boil. Throw in a handful of salt -- it should taste less salty than sea water, but heading in that direction. When it boils, throw in enough pasta for about 3 serves. I like using penne or rotini for this: something short and sturdy. As a hint: pasta roughly doubles in size when cooked, so if you want to cook 2 servings, measure out one bowlful dry. In other words, for 3 servings, measure 1.5 bowls-full dry. Or, if you're me, one very over-full bowl.

(Why three servings? Well, when I make a pasta sauce based on a 14oz can of tomatoes, that's about how much sauce there is. I have one serve for dinner, and the others get packed as leftovers for lunches.)

When the water is boiling vigorously (which will happen fastest if you put a lid on it), throw in the pasta, and give it a stir with a long spoon to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom. Cooking should take about 10 mins. Start pulling out bits and nomming them around the 8 minute mark to see how they're going.

While you wait for the water to boil, pasta to cook, etc, do the following:

1 slosh olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)

Put them in a pan and saute til it smells yummy. Don't let the garlic brown.

Add 1 can crushed tomatoes. Stir it all around.

Drain 1 medium sized can of tuna, add it to the pan. Break up the chunks a bit with a spoon.

Add a handful of good black olives. I like whole kalamata olives. Think about how many you'd like in a bowlful of pasta, and triple it for three serves. I usually like about 6 olives per serve.

Leave that stuff in the pan over a very low heat to simmer, letting the flavours blend together.

When the pasta is very nearly done, grab a coffee mug and scoop out some of the pasta cooking water. This is a handy trick always for pasta! Do it every time! The pasta water, with the starchy stuff in it, is really good for helping make the sauce do what you want. You don't always need the starchy pasta water, but it never hurts to have it, so always grab a cupful before straining.

When the pasta's done, strain it in a colander over the sink, then throw it back into the pot it cooked in. Put it back on the stovetop but don't turn on the heat. Up-end the pan of tuna-tomato-olive sauce into the pasta and stir it around. It probably won't mix through very smoothly. This is where you use your pasta-cooking water. It's *magic*. Pour a decent slurp (maybe around 1/4 cup?) of it into the pasta and mix it round, and you'll see that it makes the sauce thin out, spread around, and stick to the pasta nicely.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese. Om nom nom!