A couple of quick and easy pasta dishes for fishy people

 

Several years ago a book titled Jam Today: Cooking with what you’ve got made a great impression on me. The idea was to cook out of your pantry. Of course, the author also had access to her husband’s huge vegetable garden, an advantage I was missing (both the husband and the garden). Still that book was where I learned about Pisces, the fishing board from which I order tuna, and the idea of cooking out of the pantry has always intrigued me.

During quarantine, Jordan and I stocked enough to cook out of the pantry for five years. But the cottage has limited pantry space. (One of my pie-in-the-sky dreams is to have a kitchen expert redesign my tiny kitchen.) My basic pantry is a deep drawer next to the sink, but stocking cans in a drawer means you must pull each out to read the label—a pain. The other day I did an inventory of canned beans: four pintos, two cannelloni, one each red, kidney, navy, and black. Not everything is in that drawer—there are cans in a cabinet above my cooking corner that I can’t reach, cans in another cabinet next to the sink that I also cannot reach, and, yes, cans in my bedroom closet. Want cream of celery soup to make Louella’s rice? You’ll have to go on a hunt.

But there are things I routinely keep on hand—tuna, prime among them (I buy it by the case). I also keep canned salmon, artichoke hearts, anchovies, pasta of course, green and white beans for three bean salad and because Sophie loves canned green beans. I could and probably should weed out my drawer and take the rarely used items to a food drive at church—that can of Spam that lurks in my closet, for instance. But a tiny part of me is somewhat of a hoarder.

All that is by way of leading up to today’s two recipes, both of which you can, if you’re like me, cook out of your pantry. Want a quick lunch or a light supper? Whip up one of these, toss a green salad and you have it. Or maybe you’re late getting home one night—a work reception or happy hour with friends—and you’re hungry but not very.  You’ll notice that they are almost identical and certainly start out the same way. The first you’ll also note is called Midnight Pasta—meant, perhaps, for sophisticates home late after an evening at the theater.

Midnight pasta (serves two)

½ lb. pasta, such as spaghetti or linguini

Salt

Olive oil – 3 Tbsp.

4 garlic cloves, sliced

4 oil-packed anchovy fillets

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1-1/2 Tbsp. tomato paste

Half of a small lemon, zested

For garnish: chopped basil or parsley

Grated Parmesan on Pecorino

Cook pasta, stopping it before it reaches al dente because it will cook more in the sauce; Reserve one cup of pasta water and drain off the rest.

Combine oil, garlic, anchovies, red pepper, and salt in skillet. Cook two or three minutes, making sure the garlic does not burn. Add tomato paste and cook another minute.

Stir in the drained pasta, lemon zest, and some of the pasta water. Stir so that sauce coats each strand of pasta, adding more water as needed. Test to be sure pasta is now cooked al dente.

Squeeze juice from half of the half of lemon over pasta, add parsley or basil, and toss. Taste for salt. Spoon into pasta plates and drizzle with a bit more olive oil. Top with grated cheese, and pass lemon quarters

Pasta with tuna, capers and scallions (serves three to four)

¾ lb. pasta, such as spaghetti or linguini

3 Tbsp. olive oi

3 garlic cloves, sliced

3 green onions, thinly sliced (separate white and green parts)

8 – 10 anchovy fillets

3 Tbsp. drained capers

1 cup herbs of your choice, roughly chopped—parsley, basil, celery leaves

1 5 oz. can tuna, drained

Optional: pinch of red pepper flakes

Lemon wedges for serving

Cook pasta and drain, reserving one cup of the water

Combine oil, garlic, white parts of the scallion in skillet. Cook at medium heat for a minute or two and then add the anchovies, pressing on them with a wooden spoon until they almost disintegrate into the sauce. Add some of the pasta water and reduce until it is almost gone. Add remaining water, herbs, and tuna. Stir to coat each pasta strand.

Serve in pasta bowls and pass lemon wedges. Offer optional red pepper flakes, chopped green onion tops, and grated Parmesan or Pecorino.

Buon appetite!