This is a recipe for one of those ‘that tin of tuna has been sitting in the pantry for a while and I made sandwiches with the previous tin’ moments followed by ‘I really feel like a bowl of pasta, so I wonder if …’

It’s not the prettiest plate to grace our table but the flavour is punchy, it combines two items not favoured by Maggie – tuna and pasta – and makes effective use of a home-grown product – preserved lemon. The recipe produces enough for me to have it for lunch on two days, usually while Maggie is at work or is in her “I just feel like an egg on toast” space.

There is plenty of salt in the ingredients, so the pasta cooking water should be less salty than usual.

Ingredients

60ml olive oil
1 small-to-medium red or brown onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 anchovy fillets, coarsely chopped
¼ small preserved lemon, flesh discarded, peel rinsed (or zest and juice of a lemon)
185g tin of tuna, scantly drained
2 loosely-packed cups of coarsely chopped rocket
140g ribbon pasta, eg linguine or fettuccini
black pepper

Method

1. Drain the tuna by partly opening the lid and tipping the tin on its side for a couple of minutes; don’t use paper towel or the dish will be too dry. Place the tuna in a wide bowl and use a fork or your fingers to break up all the lumps into small pieces.
2. Heat 20ml of the olive oil over low heat, add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until soft (4-6 minutes).
3. Finely chop the preserved lemon peel (if using), add to pan with chopped anchovies and cook for 2 minutes. Add tuna to pan and stir. Add remaining 40ml of olive oil and the chopped rocket, stir and cook for 1 minute then remove from heat. Add lemon juice and zest (if using).
4. Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain but reserve a little of the cooking water.
5. Add pasta to tuna sauce and toss to combine, season with freshly ground black pepper to taste and add a little pasta cooking water if too dry.
6. Serve immediately.