HOME
Jerry's Recipes

Easy

Pasta with Ricotta Cheese-Tuna Sauce

TUNA, CHEESE, AND PASTA MAKE A SUPERB COMBINATION. The taste is even better with the delicate sweetness of ricotta (or mozzarella, which becomes stringy when melted). Try to avoid ricotta cheese sold in plastic containers—it barely resembles the real thing. Rather, check out the specialty cheese section.

This dish lends itself to substitutions such as:

  • Pasta. Select a shape that readily holds the sauce—penne, fusilli, gemelli, radiatore and similar.
  • Tuna. Tuna in olive oil is the better choice (I recommend Genova® brand by Chicken of the Sea). Otherwise, use a solid light tuna but be sure to fully drain the liquid before using in the sauce.
  • Garlic. I prefer fresh garlic, but bottled garlic certainly does the job here.
  • Parsley. If you have fresh flat-leaf parsley, use it. Otherwise, dried parsley leaves substitute nicely.
Takes about 30 minutes. Serves 4.

SHOPPING LIST:
Jerry's Recipes
  • Pasta
  • Canned tuna
  • Parsley
  • Capers
  • Garlic
  • Ricotta or mozzarella cheese

Prepare pasta


 
    14 to 16 oz pasta
Cook ALMOST to al dente in at least 4 quarts boiling, salted water
(follow package directions)


Prepare the tuna sauce
In a small bowl, combine
  • 1 7-oz can tuna, drained and flaked
  • 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
  • palmful fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon capers, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste


Finish the dish
 
1
Drain the pasta and put into a large skillet. Reserve a cup or so of cooking liquid.
2
Add and cook gently, while stirring,
until cheese starts to melt (a few minutes)
  • tuna sauce mixture
  • handful of cheese, diced small
  • some of the reserved pasta cooking water if the pasta mixture seems dry

rainbow

© 2002-2012  All rights reserved.
www.cybershingle.com/recipes/