Oil packed tuna and salty green olives are a classic combination in Northern Italian cuisine. This is a great pasta dish to whip up if you’re in a hurry – the sauce comes together quickly while the pasta is cooking, and it’s just different enough to be something special. I always use the best quality canned tuna I can find, and when it’s packed in olive oil you can really taste the difference. Sadly, my local grocery store doesn’t have an olive bar so these Greek pitted olives were the best I could get, but getting a small container of green Cerignola olives from your local Italian or specialty grocer would make the recipe even better.
Spaghetti with Tuna & Green Olives
Serves 4
1 can good quality tuna packed in olive oil
½ cup sliced green olives (approximately 12-15 large olives – I used pitted Greek but Cerignola work great too)
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. pepper
½ tsp. salt
1 box spaghetti or linguine
1. Slice the olives and add to a large bowl
2. Break up the tuna into small pieces and along with its oil, add it to the olives.
3. Finely chop the parsley and add it to the bowl along with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Cook the pasta “al dente” and drain well
5. Toss with the sauce to combine and serve warm or at room temperature.
- 1 can good quality tuna packed in olive oil
- ½ cup sliced green olives (approximately 12-15 large olives – I used pitted Greek but Cerignola work great too)
- 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. pepper
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 box spaghetti or linguine
- Slice the olives and add to a large bowl
- Break up the tuna into small pieces and along with its oil, add it to the olives.
- Finely chop the parsley and add it to the bowl along with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Cook the pasta “al dente” and drain well
- Toss with the sauce to combine and serve warm or at room temperature.
- Enjoy!
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