Tuna and Spaghetti ~ Great Meat-free dish for Lent and Beyond

Lent is in full swing and that means Friday meals have to be planned as meat free in our house.  (And, my boys are sighing relief that we are not Orthodox where Fridays mean no meat OR dairy!)  Dinners are usually ‘covered’ with the exception of Good Friday as we attend the Soup and Stations at our parish each week.  But, we are still left with lunches and the boys do not always want to hear PB&J or grilled cheese as options.  Last week I made tuna and spaghetti like my mom made many Fridays when I was growing up.

Preparing Tuna and Spaghetti

As you can see from the visual collage below, the primary cooking for this dish is all about the sauce.  Once it is made, you just cook your chosen pasta (spaghetti or any long strand tends to work well) and toss it with the sauce.  Below is 1 pound of angel hair pasta with the amount of sauce I made and the ratio was pretty close to perfect.

I love to top the finished dish with a bit of Parmesan or Romano cheese to give some extra depth to it.

What meatless dishes are YOU eating?

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4.3 from 3 reviews

Tuna and Spaghetti

Author: Laura

Cuisine: Italian

Recipe type: Main

Serves: 8

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  15 mins

Total time:  25 mins

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large can tuna
• 1 14 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes or tomato sauce
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp granulated garlic OR 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1 lb. dried spaghetti

Instructions

1. Coat the bottom of the saucepan with olive oil (approximately 1 Tbsp, but maybe less.)
2. Over a low heat, add tuna and stir to flake it. If you are using crushed garlic, saute the garlic first and then add the tuna.
3. After a few minutes, add tomatoes, tomato paste and seasonings. Stir well.
4. Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer on low for a few minutes, stirring often. To avoid burning, you can use a diffuser plate.
5. Prepare pasta per directions. Once drained, toss the pasta and sauce together.
6. Top with shredded Parmesan or Romano cheese and serve.

Notes

You can add some sliced or diced black olives to create even greater depth to this dish. I leave them out as several of my boys do not care for it that way. Personal preference is for crushed garlic rather than the granulated, but either works. Spice amounts are what I put into the dish when making it and measuring. However, I usually taste test the sauce and add more as desired.

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This post is linked up to the 40 Days of Seeking Him Lent Season 2013 meme for week two.

I hope you will come back to share more during this season of Lent.