Fast Pantry Dinner: Tuna & Whole Wheat Pasta

This is a really simple dish that can be put together quickly with just 3 items from your pantry: canned tuna, whole wheat pasta and olive oil. While whole wheat pasta is terrible with red sauce, it's nutty flavor is a nice complement to the tuna and olive oil. Any canned tuna will do,  but I heartily recommend imported tuna in olive oil. The taste difference is remarkable. Cento is my preferred brand and it consistently comes out on top in competitive taste tests. It's available at Whole Foods and Amazon.com. This recipe serves 4 (allow one, 5-ounce can of tuna per person).



Ingredients
4, 5-ounce cans of tuna in olive oil
16 ounces of whole wheat spaghetti (Garofalo preferred)
1/4 cup of of olive oil plus 1 tablespoon
1 tablespoon salt

1. Fill a large pot with water. Add salt and bring to a boil.
2. When water comes to a boil, add spaghetti and cook for one minute less than package instructions.
3. Take a small saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and empty contents of tuna cans into saucepan (This assumes you are using oil packed tuna. If you are not, drain tuna first).
4. Spread tuna in pan and gently heat over low heat.
5. When pasta is cooked, drain water and then toss spaghetti with 1/4 cup of olive oil. Divide spaghetti among plates and top each spaghetti serving with warm tuna.

Wine pairing: Pinot Noir