Tuna, tomato and chilli pasta
A cupboard dinner that tastes like you planned it. Ready in the time the pasta takes to boil.
Notable for: antioxidants, vitamin C, iron
Ingredients
- 550 gtuna in springwater, 4 cans, drained
- 400 gspaghetti
- 800 gchopped tomatoes, 2 cans
- 100 gtomato puree
- 200 gbrown onions, fine dice
- 15 gcrushed garlic
- 5 gchilli powder
- 120 gbaby spinach
- 1lemons, juiced
- 10 mlolive oil
Method
Put the pasta on to cook in well salted water.
Heat the oil and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft, then add the garlic and chilli for 30 seconds.
Add the tomatoes and puree and simmer hard for 8 minutes so it reduces and loses the tinny edge.
Add the tuna, flaked, and warm it through for 2 minutes without stirring it to mush.
Stir the spinach through off the heat until it wilts, then add the lemon juice.
Drain the pasta a minute early and finish it in the sauce with a splash of its cooking water.
Reduce the tomatoes before the tuna goes in
Canned tomatoes taste raw and sharp until they have had eight minutes of real heat. Adding the tuna early just breaks it up while you wait.
Storage
Keeps two days in the fridge.
Reheat gently with a splash of water so the pasta does not go gluey.
Cost per serving is indicative, based on New Zealand supermarket prices as at September 2026. Batch prices your own week against your own store on the day. Nutrition figures, including calories, are estimates rather than label readings, so always check the packet if you have an allergy. "Notable for" reflects well-established qualities of the ingredients used, not a lab measurement of this exact dish.