Onion And Tuna Pasta

onions on a cutting board — Thumb rule: 2 onions per person

an onion cut in half — Cut each onion in half, then slice

Sliced onions on a cutting board — Sliced like this, onions will linger on your pasta

a covered panful of raw onions — Put the onions in a pan with some water stew covered

Ground black pepper — Grind abundant black pepper

Stewed onions in a pan — A panful of stewed onions

cooked tuna and onions in a pan — Add tuna, cook for 2 minutes, then add pepper

Seasoned pasta in a pot — Season the pasta with the sauce

A dish of Onion and tuna pasta — Served and ready!

Believe me, I have waited in line at McDonald’s for longer than it takes to cook this recipe. Plus, it can feed a family on a fraction of a “fast food” meal. And of course, it just tastes better.

This is one of my favourite recipes for those (not too rare) occasions when I stand up late from the desk and, uh-oh!, lunchtime’s in twenty minutes!

Apron-to-dish time: 20 minutes.

Here’s what you need for 4 servings:

4 large onions
2 160g cans of tuna
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
400g spaghetti

Put your pasta pot to boil. The idea is that by the time spaghetti are cooked, you’ll be done with the sauce.

Peel and chop the onions. I like to halve them and them cut medium-thick slices, so they’ll stick to the pasta.

Put the onions in a pan with water enough so they’ll be half-covered, cover the pan and set to the fire. Give them lots of heat, they need to stew in as little time as possible, this is fast food! Oh, and by no water will be boiling. Toss the pasta in the water (choose something that cooks in about 10 minutes), stir, and let it cook.

Which pasta? This really depends on what you have. For this recipe I use penne, rigatoni, even spaghetti. This time I had elicidali (twirls)

This is the right time to set the table. Let the onions cook covered, stirring occasionally. Make sure there is always about 1cm of liquid at the bottom.

When onions are limp (not too limp, ok?) they’re ready. Remove the cover, add the tuna. Here’s why I recommended keeping enough liquid in the onions: first, they’ll cook faster, second, the tuna will eat up most of the liquid. Cook together for a couple minutes, then add the ground pepper.

By now the pasta will be cooked. Strain it and season with the sauce. Yes, I use the pot and not a large bowl. We all do. One less thing to wash, and the pasta won’t get cold before it’s dished out.