Neptune's Pasta

My friend Karen recently gave me two cans of remarkably good tuna, caught in the waters off Vancouver Island and processed here too. 

It seemed far too nice a treat to spend on a tuna sandwich, so I used one of the tins to make Neptune’s Pasta.

I’ve been making this pasta for pretty much as long as I’ve been cooking.  The first time I made it, it came together as a means of making a supper from what I had on hand.  I’ve made it many, many times since, with all sorts of different fish. 

I’ve used tinned tuna, salmon – both canned and fresh, - prawns, bits of leftover white fish (cod, halibut, snapper), calamari, clams, and even sardines in this recipe and have yet to find a seafood that doesn’t work well with the basic ingredients.  If it lives in Neptune’s realm, it will taste well in this pasta.

Besides being a wonderful way to stretch a small amount of fish into several servings, Neptune’s Pasta is remarkably fast and simple to make, and quite good for you.  The quantities are easily adaptable, making it a suitable dinner for two or for twelve.  I’m sure it’ll still be in my repertoire years from now.

To make Neptune’s Pasta for the two of us, I used:

• 1/2 of a 375 gram box of whole wheat spaghettini
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• The zest and juice of a large lemon
• 1-170 gram tin of tuna
• A few sprigs of dill

I put a large pot of water on the stove for the pasta. 

While the water was coming to a boil, I grated the zest from the lemon and then ran my knife through it so that it was very finely chopped.  I chopped the dill (it came to about 2 Tablespoons when chopped) and minced the garlic.  When the garlic was very finely chopped I sprinkled the salt over it and let it sit for a couple of minutes.  Once it had rested, I used the side of my knife blade to mash the salt and garlic together into a paste.  

I also drained and rinsed the tuna, turned it out of the tin and broke it up with a fork.

When the water boiled, I added a generous amount of salt (enough to make it taste like the sea), and the spaghettini.  I cooked the spaghettini until it was almost ready but still very al dente.

About 4 minutes into the pasta cooking time, I heated the olive oil in a large pot and then added the lemon peel and garlic.  I cooked them, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds; just long enough to infuse their flavours into the oil. 

I added the tuna, the lemon juice, and about a cup of pasta cooking water to the garlic/lemon mixture. (I'm sorry I don't have a picture of this.  I was working pretty quickly at this point and couldn't stop to set up a photo.)

I drained the spaghettini and added it into the tuna mixture.  The pasta finished cooking in the sauce, soaking up some of the liquid as it cooked.  As soon as it was done, I stirred in the chopped dill and then portioned it into bowls.

I garnished each serving with a little more dill and served it immediately.

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