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A Tuna, Olive & Tomato Pasta Recipe For An Easy Weeknight Dinner

Author:

Eliza Sullivan

January 12, 2025

mbg Nutrition & Health Writer

By Eliza Sullivan

mbg Nutrition & Health Writer

Eliza Sullivan is a food writer and SEO editor at mindbodygreen. She writes about food, recipes, and nutrition—among other things. She studied journalism at Boston University.

Image by Amanda Frederickson / Beautiful Simple Food

January 12, 2025

We carefully vet all products and services featured on mindbodygreen using our commerce guidelines. Our selections are never influenced by the commissions earned from our links.

You may have stocked up on canned goods, but we're quickly running through our arsenal of recipes that use these canned foods. One thing we'll never tire of? Pasta. And this recipe from Simple Beautiful Food takes the best of canned ingredients to make something that will satisfy any salt craving.

Just where does that salty flavor come from? In part, the Castelvetrano olives you'll be putting and slicing to toss with your pasta. These green olives hail from Sicily and have more of their natural olive taste than their vinegar-cured relations. You'll find them in jars, not cans, but they're still a good pantry item for adding a buttery bite to favorite dishes.

After we got talking with some registered dietitians about the glories of canned fish, we realized we'd maybe been sleeping on these low-cost, sustainable protein sources. While canned tuna may bring to mind images of mayonnaise-y tuna salads, this one-pot wonder flips it into a satisfying pasta dish (no mayo required).

We may have more time on our hands, but that doesn't mean we're hoping to spend it all doing dishes—another reason to make this a weeknight staple.

Pasta With Tuna, Castelvetrano Olives & Blistered Cherry Tomatoes

Makes about 4 servings

Ingredients

12 ounces dried pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups cherry tomatoes
½ cup Castelvetrano olives, pitted and thinly sliced
5 ounces canned tuna
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Fresh basil, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Method

Cook 12 ounces of dried pasta according to the package instructions.
Drain, rinse with cool water, and set aside.
In the same pan, warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
Add 1 minced shallot, 2 minced cloves of garlic, and 3 cups of cherry tomatoes and sauté, covered, for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes are blistered and soft.
Toss the cooked pasta with the tomatoes, along with ½ cup of pitted and thinly sliced Castelvetrano olives and 5 ounces of drained canned tuna.
Garnish with fresh basil, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes.

Tip: Cut cherry tomatoes in half if they are large.