It’s Summer. The Italian summer. So very hot, very humid — at least here in Rome. You’ve reached your personal record of laziness. But this morning, before the heat destroyed any living outside pleasure — unless you were already by the sea of course — you bought beautiful, brilliantly green zucchini at the market.
So what do you do?
You use the ultimate Italian ingredient for lazy evenings: canned tuna.
My sister, as a child — but honestly, I’d bet even nowadays — had a thing for canned tuna. To the point we all knew she would happily eat pasta al tonno every single day if it weren’t for our mother’s desperate attempts to vary our table.
And I also knew a guy, F., a childhood friend of my brother, who — at least until his late teens, when he still frequented our house — ate only, and I repeat only, pasta al tonno and fish fingers.
This is the kind of intimate relationship Italians have with canned tuna.
And honestly, once you understand how good it can become with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, lemon, capers, or mint, it all starts making perfect sense.
This pasta is one of those very Italian summer recipes born from pantry ingredients, heat exhaustion, and the desire to spend as little time as possible near the stove.
The zucchini become slightly crispy at the edges, the tuna melts into the olive oil, and the mint suddenly makes everything taste fresher, greener, more alive.
Very little effort.
Very Italian summer.
Italian canned tuna and zucchini pasta
Ingredients
- 4 small zucchini
- 5.3 oz canned tuna fillets - 150 gr
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh mint leaves
- 7 oz of pasta - the shape is up to you - 200 gr
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Instructions
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With the blade of a large knife flat on it, crush the garlic clove by pressing your lower palm - no need to peel it.
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Trim and slice the zucchini as finely as possible.
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Finely chop the mint leaves.
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Discard the olive from the tuna.
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Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan, add the garlic clove, and brown it for about five minutes.
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Add the zucchini slices and a couple pinches of salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring every now and then until a soft crust forms on the zucchini - five to ten minutes.
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Meanwhile, bring a big pot of salted water to a boil - about two liters (half a gallon) and one tablespoon of salt.
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Toss in the pasta and cook it according to package directions.
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Add the tuna fillets and the chopped mint to the zucchini pan and cook, stirring to amalgamate, for about five minutes.
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Halfway through the pasta cooking, collect half a cup of the boiling water and pour it into the condiment pan.
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When ready, drain the pasta, add it to the pan, and sauté over high heat for a couple of minutes.
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Serve your delicious tuna and zucchini pasta hot.
Enjoy your easy and delicious Italian tuna and zucchini pasta!
Claudia