Creamy Tuna Pasta With Spinach
This tuna and ricotta pasta is an easy, solid weeknight meal. It’s mostly pantry ingredients and comes together in one pan while the pasta cooks. The ricotta makes it creamy without being heavy, and the capers and chili give it a bit of a kick. I usually add lemon zest if I have a lemon laying around, but it’s still good without.
This recipe is easy to switch up. You can use different greens if you don’t have spinach (try arugula), leave out the capers, or add more chili if you like it spicier. You can also use some type of cream cheese instead of ricotta.
Creamy Tuna Pasta With Spinach
Course: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy2
servings10
minutes15
minutesIngredients
200g pasta (fusilli, penne or spaghetti work well)
160g canned tuna (~100g drained)
100g spinach
150g cherry tomatoes, halved
100g ricotta
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp chili flakes
(Optional) Zest of half a lemon
(Optional) Chopped flat-leaf-parsley
Directions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it generously, and add the pasta.
- In a skillet over medium heat, cook the onion in olive oil until soft.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the drained tuna, capers, and chili flakes. Break up the tuna slightly as it cooks.
- Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for about a minute.
- Add the spinach. Once mostly wilted, stir in the ricotta and lemon zest (if using), along with a splash of pasta water. Mix until creamy.
- When the pasta is al dente, add it to the pan. Toss everything together, adding more pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce.
- Serve topped with chopped parsley.
