Linguine al Tonno alla Romana based on the recipe from Roma in Cucina: The Flavours of Rome by Carla Magrelli. Pasta with anchovies, tuna, olives, and capers.
No garlic, no cheese, no hot peppers? And Tom doesn’t like raw tomatoes. Hmm…
Trying it anyway to see what all the excitement is about. Talk about taking chances.
Watching Tom eating it from the pan after dinner while packing it for lunch — priceless.
Saving the recipe for myself to go back to.
WHAT WENT IN
— olive oil;
— 6 anchovy fillets;
— 6 oz tuna in oil, drained;
— 2 x 28 oz cans whole tomatoes roughly chopped;
— 2 Tbsp capers, rinsed;
— 3/4 cup Kalamata olives, sliced;
— 1/4 cup chopped parsley.
THE PROCESS
1. Heat oil in a deep sauté pan, add anchovies, and melt them.
2. Add tuna to the pan and break it into pieces, drying it a little.
3. Stir in tomatoes and capers, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a pot — I use a 4-qt pot for a pound of pasta to make the water more saturated with starch — cook pasta until it becomes just pliable. It takes between 5 and 7 minutes.
5. Add olives to the sauce and mix in.
6. With tongs, move pasta to the pan with sauce and stir it in. Do not discard water yet!
7. Keep cooking pasta in sauce, adding starch saturated pasta water by 1/2 cup or a cup until pasta reaches the desired consistency — the same way you’d cook risotto. It may take two or three cups. Maybe more.
8. Once ready, add some parsley and serve.
