Tuna, Rocket & Harissa Pasta Recipe

This easy pasta recipe uses simple ingredients you probably already have at home. It only takes a couple of minutes to put together and tastes delicious. You can also make this recipe with drained hot brown rice instead of pasta.


Ingredients
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve (if needed)
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, squashed, peeled and halved lengthways
1-2 heaped teaspoons harissa or chilli paste
Grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
330 g/2 cups of cherry tomatoes, quartered
A handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
A handful of parsley, finely chopped
A handful of rocket, torn
160-g/6-oz. can or jar of tuna in olive oil, drained
1-2 tablespoons Taste #5 Umami Pepper
300 g/10 1/2 oz. dried short pasta shapes or 240g/9 oz. fresh short pasta shapes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serves 2–4

Method

Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta.

Meanwhile, place all the ingredients apart from the pasta in a large bowl. (If you plan to serve this cold, omit the rocket at this stage.)

When the salted water is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook according to the instructions on the packet.

Drain the pasta, but keep a cup of the cooking water. Tip the hot drained pasta into the bowl of other ingredients. Season with salt and black pepper and toss with gusto until the heat from the pasta unlocks the flavours of all the aromatics. If necessary, add a splash of the retained pasta cooking water or a splash more olive oil to loosen up.

Either serve immediately or allow to cool and store in the fridge to serve later. If you do store it in the fridge, do not add the rocket until the last minute and remember to remove from the fridge a few minutes before serving to loosen up the oil. Add a little extra seasoning if needed and serve.

This delicious recipe is from Pasta Perfect by Laura Santini.  To get more great blog posts like this one - direct to your inbox – be sure to sign up to our mailing list here.