One pot tuna pasta with olives and capers
The faster pasta you’ll have cook: one pot tuna pasta. This isa super quick recipe and most importantly, you will only have one pot to wash!
After learning how to use a pressure cooker, I came up with this one pot tuna pasta recipe. The perfect healthy, simple and quick meal for everyone!
Working full time I always try to find quick recipes that leave me with less washing up. I discovered I could cook pasta in a single pot in than 10 minutes when I bought my first pressure cooker.
One pot pasta, where it all began (for me)
I started searching the web and found that Italian sailors are more accustomed to use pressure cooker for pasta. On a sailboat is really hard to cook meals with lot of pots. So having one pot that allows for quick cooking and is tightly closed is the best way to have a meal ready in no time without worrying too much.
Then I learnt that actually, people that use a pressure cooker are more used to cooking pasta this way. If you are like me and always looking for easy, tasty and quick recipes, this one is for you.Whip up your dinner or lunch in less than 10 min with foods you have in your cupboard!
The only downside is not being able to cook long pasta like spaghetti, but for recipes like this one pot tuna pasta, short pasta is best.
Advantages of one pot tuna pasta in a pressure cooker
This recipe is super easy and if you have a pressure cooker or an electric multipurpose pot you’ll find it a real life saver! Thanks to the pressure, the water boils quickly and using this kind of pot reduces the cooking time by more than half.
But the advantages won’t end here:
- Energy saving: actually cooking pasta or risotto in a pressure cooker will allow you to save energy. Since it will need half the time to cook, you will be able to see the difference in the energy bill at the end of the month. The pressure cooker keeps the pressure and the boiling long after you turn off the stove. This allows for a huge saving in energy consumption. Since pasta needs only a few minutes to cook, you can bring the pot to full pressure for a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat and let it cook with the residual heat. Usually I keep the stove turned on for no more than 7/8 minutes from start to finish.
- Water saving: When you cook pasta the traditional way, you need to use a lot of water. This water is then discarded as soon as the pasta is ready. However, if you cook this one pot pasta in the pressure cooker, you only use the water needed. You won’t be able to sense the difference in a one-time cooking, but when you’ll start using this method more often you’ll notice the saving.
Want to know more about how to cook pasta perfectly? Be it in a pressure cooker or with the traditional method, you can check my article on how to cook pasta.
More taste, less waste
Beyond the water and energy bill saving, there are other advantages when using a pressure cooker that involve taste and health.
- Less salt: Using a pressure cooker is a great way to make tasty pasta and reduce the salt content. Since you cook all the ingredients together, the pasta will absorb all the flavours of the seasonings. This results in a tastier pasta than pasta cooked in boiling salted water.
- More nutrients: This cooking method also allows for reducing the waste of nutrients. Many foods loose some of their nutritional value when cooked in water. Using a pressure cooker, the pasta will absorb all the water soluble compounds in the sauce. Moreover, by using the pressure cooker, the cooking time is shorter. A shorter cooking time helps in retaining more nutrients in the food.
Tuna pasta: Health facts
This one pot tuna pasta is not only delicious and easy, but also packed full of good nutrients for your body. As we already know, tomatoes contains lycopene. In this recipe we pair this antioxidant with omega 3 fatty acids from the fish (tuna or mackerel) and the vitamins in the parsley. When buying canned tuna, look for skipjack tuna, is more sustainable and contains less mercury.
TIP: Add parsley in the end to garnish, it should not be cooked).
Capers and olives are also great for your health, containing quercitin, a valuable antioxidant and hydroxytyrosol that helps fighting the growth of white fat in our body.
Tips and tricks for making one pot pasta
- Adding the parsley only in the end will retain all the vitamins.
- Every pressure cooker is different, you might want to check if yours came with some pasta recipe or cooking time.
- To release the pressure quicker, put the pot under cold running water. However you’ve got to be very careful when doing it, hot water could splash on you and burn your skin.
- The sun-dried tomato paste is optional, if you do not have it simply skip it.
- You could substitute tuna or mackerel for anchovies.
One pot tuna pasta with olives and capers
Ingredients
- 320 gr of pasta
- 1 5oz can of tuna or mackerel
- 2 tablespoons of olives
- 1 tablespoon of capers - washed and drained
- 1 tablespoon of sun-dried tomato paste
- 150 ml of tomato passata
- 1 garlic clove
- cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- a small bunch of parsley
Instructions
- Drain the fish and pat it dry with a paper towel, chop the capers and slice the olives.
- Put the, fish, olives, capers tomato paste and and tomato passata in the pot and turn on the heat. Add the garlic crushed or mashed (you could use dried garlic powder instead) and the cayenne pepper.
- Cook for a minute then add the pasta and add enough water to barely cover the pasta, add a pinch of salt and black pepper.
- Close the lid, turn the heat to high and let the pressure cooker rich the pressure. When it whistles turn the heat to low and cook for 1/3 of the time indicated on the package. For example, if the cooking time is 8 min. cook for 3 minutes then turn off the heat. Allow the pot to release all the pressure and the pasta is done. Sprinkle with the parsley and the extra virgin olive oil.
