Baked tomato and tuna pasta recipe

Incredibly tasty, super satisfying, quick and affordable. This dish is a family classic in our house. I like that I can cook it whenever is convenient for me (such as when I need a break from the computer when working from home) and leave it in the oven ready for later when we are starving.

Although pasta is definitely a heart-warming dish that is perfect for when it's cold, with the right ingredients it can also make a fabulous summer choice. Tomato and tuna keep things light and packed full of flavour - ideal for a light lunch or dinner.

This recipe has been created to work out at £1 or under for each serving: the ingredients have been costed up based on the prices in my local supermarket. The cost (per person) for this dish is £0.98.

Timings

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Serves

Four

Ingredients

• 80ml olive oil (£0.18)

• 1 x 200g tin of tuna in sunflower oil (£0.75)

• 1 large onion, finely chopped (£0.15)

• 1 small head of garlic, finely chopped (£0.23)

• 1 x 320g tin pitted green olives, sliced (£0.49)

• 1 tsp oregano (£0.05)

• Salt (£0.01)

• Pepper (£0.01)

• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (£0.35)

• 400g rigatoni pasta (£0.52)

• 1 mozzarella balls, shredded (£0.43)

• 300ml single cream (£0.75)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7.

2. Place a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the olive oil, the drained oil from the tin of tuna and the onion and fry for 10 minutes until golden. Add the garlic, the green olives and oregano and fry for a further five minutes. Season with salt, a generous amount of pepper, and add the tin of chopped tomatoes. Cook it for five minutes until reduced, then stir in the tin of tuna and remove from the heat.

3. Bring a large pan of water to the boil over a high heat and par-cook the pasta for seven minutes. Drain and add to the sauce with a ladleful of the cooking water. Give it a good mix and transfer to a roasting tray.

4. Top the pasta with the shredded mozzarella, pour the cream all over the top and bake for about 20 minutes.

Recipe from thespanishchef.com