Today I want to share with you a dish that is very dear to my heart. It is a very simple recipe, but if made with home made pasta it can be a little bit more labour intensive (but so much worth it!). The reason why I love it so much is because it reminds me of when I would make “green pasta” with my dad… and this would be the sauce of our choice! I guess, after spending quite a bit of time making pasta, having a very quick sauce to go with it makes perfect sense. I love all the flavours and contrasts in this dish: ricotta is soft and delicate, tuna fish is crumbly and savoury and olives are salty and almost spicy. And they all come together beautifully. I think it also makes a perfect summer meal as the sauce does not require cooking and it literally comes together in 2 minutes! I like to serve this pasta with a generous sprinkle of Parmigiano Reggiano on the top… ok, now I am hungry! I will leave you to it… enjoy!
Ingredients (for 4 persons):
280 gms ricotta
150 gms tuna fish (preserved in olive oil), drained and crumbled
15 to 20 black olives (I used kalamata), pitted and halved
4 leaves basil (optional), roughly chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 batch of home-made green tagliatelle (click here for the tutorial) or 350 gms of good quality store bought tagliatelle
NOTE: you can also use normal egg tagliatelle for this recipe.
Put the ricotta in a big serving bowl and mash it well with a fork. Add the tuna fish, olives and basil (if using). Add enough hot water to it (I use the pasta water) to obtain a runny cream. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and keep it aside.
Cook the tagliatelle following the steps on “How to cook pasta al dente”. Only in this you will not have a pre set cooking time. The time will vary based on the thickness of your pasta and on whether you have left them to dry etc. So, the best solution is to taste it! Remember, it does have to remain firm.
When the pasta is cooked, drain it (RESERVE some of the water in case you need to adjust the sauce with it!), put it in the big serving bowl with the sauce and mix it well.
Serve it hot with a generous sprinkle of Parmigiano Reggiano.
I love this dish. I make something very similar, especially when there’s nothing to cook and I don’t feel like doing food shopping. It’s always a treat. 🙂
If there is such an entity as ‘my kind of meal’, this very much is it!! Oh yes, I do try to make it ‘homemade’ pasta if at all possible, but I would have this even if someone truly capable had already ‘manufactured’ the carbs bit 🙂 ! 🙂 !
That is so simple – the sauce, not the pasta. I had never thought of mixing tuna and ricotta for some reason and I do pasta often.
What an easy and tasty pasta dish! Once I get a kitchen back, I’m going to try my hand at homemade pasta and this looks like a great place to start!