Tuna penne puttanesca with caper gremolata

Tuna pasta recipe

Speedy lunches and dinners don’t get any faster or tastier than tuna pasta. It’s also a low-cost dish, with most of the ingredients found in the pantry, that has plenty of flavour. So whether you’re short on time, on a budget, and just want something that’s tasty and satisfying, tuna pasta saves the day. For this easy tuna pasta recipe we’ve taken the classic combination of pasta, tuna, olives, tomatoes, lemon and capers and gave it more Italian-inspired flavours with a twist on the popular condiment, gremolata, typically made with parsley, garlic and lemon. We’ve added capers to the mix to give it a fresh kick.

Ingredients you’ll need for tuna pasta

Two 185g cans of tuna in chilli oil will give this pasta dish some heat. You can use canned tuna with regular oil if you’d prefer not to have any spice. The pasta we’re using is penne, which is great for capturing more sauce and flavour in its tubular shape. To make the caper gremolata, you’ll need ¼ cup (50g) drained baby capers, the zest of 1 lemon and ¼ cup of finely chopped parsley leaves. To complete the dish, you’ll need 600g mixed tomatoes to brighten the dish, 1 finely chopped red onion to add sharpness, ⅓ cup (55g) sliced kalamata olives for savoury flavour and a 60g packet of baby spinach leaves to give the pasta dish some freshness and adds to its vibrant colours.

How to make tuna pasta

To make the best tuna pasta recipe, make sure your pasta is cooked al dente. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Apart from being easier to digest, pasta that’s cooked al dente also makes for a more pleasant eating experience than pasta that’s overcooked. Drain the pasta and return it to the pan.

Then it’s time to prepare the caper gremolata. Do this by heating 1 tbs olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the capers and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until they’re just crisp then transfer them to a bowl. Add the lemon zest and parsley to the capers and stir to combine. 

And then it’s all just a matter of mixing the pasta with the rest of the ingredients (we told you it’s a speedy dish!). Add the halved mixed tomatoes, the oil from the tuna cans, the chopped red onion, sliced olives and spinach to the pasta, squeeze over the juice from the lemon and fold to combine. Season the pasta dish before sprinkling the caper mixture to serve.

Now get cooking

If you’ve got canned tuna in the cupboard, you won’t need much else to whip up a tasty meal, just like this easy tuna salad. For delicious bites with crunch, serve up these tuna patties with dill and caper dressing. Want more Italian-style dishes with tuna? Try this tuna, caper and olive linguine. Ready in just 15 minutes, it’s a fast, flavourful dinner. And a hearty salad is only 10 minutes away thanks to this tuna panzanella salad.