New Year, New 20min Pantry Pasta!
Plus: a road trip to the Italian Riviera and a pasta series to make your life easier, healthier, all-around better!
Ciao friends and buon anno!
How were your holidays? I hope you ate many many good luck lentils to bring you good fortune in the new year! If not, no worries - I ate enough to cover you! We had quiet stay-cation with the exception of a slightly disastrous 36 hour getaway to the Mediterranean sea in Liguria, also known as the Italian Riviera. The intention was for a romantic weekend away, but when we woke up in our little fishing village of Varigotti, Giorgio pulled his calf on a beachfront run while I managed to strain my gluteus medius (side-butt muscle) doing sunrise yoga. Lesson learned: we should have just stayed in bed. Ha! The rest of the trip was gloriously sunny, 15 degrees, with many local anchovies. Some photos of the trip for you:
PS: we have both healed quickly and 2025 is now bringing all good things. Phew!
No resolutions.
Did you make any new year’s resolutions related to food? I didn’t make a resolution but I did choose a word of intention for 2025 (as suggested by the wonderful Dr. Jillian) which sums up my internal and external focus for 2025 and beyond: it’s health! And because I love all my readers, I’m thinking about this word for you too, so…
Please stop buying grocery store pasta sauces with long lists of mystery ingredients
Today I’m sharing the first in a series of 20 minute delicious and healthy pantry pastas. This is how Italians eat - not the heavy cream, butter, million-ingredient pastas you get at Olive Garden. Not the crazy long ingredient list jarred pasta sauces that line US supermarket shelves. This is real good food - real easy.
Making authentic Italian pasta sauces is effortlessly simple and stress-free!
Tuna it up! (get it? get it? 😉)
The combination of the natural tuna oils combined with the extra virgin olive oil makes this tangy yet smooth tomato sauce taste buttery without any butter. ALL the ingredients in this pasta sauce are considered SUPERFOODS. What is a superfood? It has anti-oxidant properties, and are rich in vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids that may be anti-inflammatory, prevent against cancer and increase cardiovascular and brain health. Incredibly, all the foods in this pasta condiment are superfoods:
Olive oil 🫒
Tuna 🐟
Tomato 🍅
Onion 🧅
Herbs: Thyme or Parsley 🌿
I provided the recipe as we make it in my house. Simple. However, with just a few more minutes you can zhuzh it up by adding anchovies to the base like Domenica Marchetti in her family’s version I look forward to trying from Buona Domenica.
The Italian Pantry
This is the start of a new series: healthy pantry pastas that Italians actually make. I know you’ve heard me say it before, and I’ll say it again. I think Italians are food geniuses and the quick, healthy meals that they whip up from nearly nothing are legendary. Can’t wait to deep dive with you into the Italian pantry in coming weeks!
❤️
pst! Scroll to the very bottom to download recipe pdf!
Big Tube Pasta with Tuna and Tomato
Mezze Maniche con Tonno e Pomodoro
FOR 4 PEOPLE
The ingredients
8 Tbls good quality extra virgin olive oil (this is creating your sauce, so don’t skimp!)
1/2 onion, peeled and finely chopped
200 g good quality tuna, packed in olive oil
400 g passata aka tomato puree (just double the amount of tuna you have)
salt (to taste)
320 g mezze maniche (these are short tubes; the meaning is half sleeves in Italian), penne, paccheri, or calamarata - or even long pasta like spaghetti or linguine, but I love the way a tube-shaped pasta catches this sauce on the inside and outside of the holes.
fresh thyme or parsley - chopped, optional
The method
1) Add all extra virgin olive oil to a wide saucepan/skillet on medium-low heat. Heat for a minute, then add the chopped onions until they are translucent and floppy. You do not want them crunchy; you want a subtle onion flavor, so this step is first before even getting the water on the stove.
2) Meanwhile, fill a big tall pot with water and salt and set on high heat stove burner. Taste the water to make sure it’s salty like the sea (and add more salt if needed).
3) Once the onions are translucent and floppy, drain the tuna and flake it with a fork into the pan with the onions, continuing to break it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon or fork in the pan.
4) Sautee for a couple minutes for the flavors to meld, then add the passata and start with 1 tsp salt, stirring to combine.
5) As soon as the water boils, add the pasta and cook until the al dente time specified on the package.
6) Taste the sauce for salt and add any if necessary. (Add slowly. It’s easier to add than remove!)
7) When the pasta is finished cooking, turn off all the burners, strain the pasta and add it to the sauce pan. Stir to coat the pasta with the sauce; it will absorb slightly.
8) If you are using fresh thyme or parsley, divide your pasta into bowls and sprinkle on before serving.
Buon appetito!
x Lolly
Did you make any New Year’s resolutions related to food? I’d love to hear more! x
This may keep me up late.
A favorite that we make all the time! Have never had it at midnight though! Use best olive oil, dried pepperocini, crushed garlic (sorry - I’ll try sliced next time), a bit of pasta water, and top with lots of delicious grated Parmesan. Simple and delicious every time!