Pasta with Tuna Sauce

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The secret to making this luscious pasta is to stir in a little of the pasta cooking water, which melds with the tuna and the oil to create a creamy sauce.
Source: Saveur
Pasta with Tuna Sauce View Gallery Photo: Andre Baranowski

12 oz. dried spaghettini
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil,
   plus more for drizzling
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1⁄2 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
2 half pints Homemade Canned Tuna
   with their oil or 3  6-oz. cans olive
   oil–packed tuna (undrained)
3 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
Kosher salt

1. Bring a 6-quart pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add spaghettini and cook until it is just al dente, about 8 minutes. Ladle out and reserve 1⁄2 cup pasta water. Drain and reserve pasta.

2. Meanwhile, heat 3 tbsp. of the extra-virgin olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and red chile flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic softens, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add tuna and cook, stirring and breaking up tuna into small chunks with a wooden spoon, until heated through, about 2 minutes.

3. Add reserved pasta and water and toss with tuna sauce. Cook, stirring vigorously with tongs, until sauce thickens and clings to pasta. Stir in parsley, season with salt to taste, and drizzle with more oil. Divide the pasta between 4 bowls and serve immediately.

SERVES 4

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #113