Tonight’s Dinner – Penne rigate with creamy-spicy Tuna sauce

Here we are, at the end of another day; the last day of Carnival somewhere but here, the day of sleepiness. :p Carnival finished yesterday night and today the mood in the city was very relaxed, quiet, melancholic… Well… I am not such a big fun of the Carnival as it is declined here in Bonn; but it is nice to see people having fun (as long as you don’t have to pick up all the barrels of beers emptied every day).
What did I have for dinner tonight? Yesterday, before falling to sleep, I realized that it was quite long time I did not cook Italian “cotolette” (breaded and fried slices of beef) but, naturally, I forgot about them again this evening only for being reminded by my mother (they were also having cotolette for dinner, what a coincidence!); I was already planning of cooking myself some pasta in tuna sauce. This time I wanted to try some creamy tuna sauce. So here you are the results (sorry, no picture today… just forgot about it :P)

What do you need?


• A tin of tuna in olive oil (150g)
• 2 anchovy’s fillets in brine
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 leaves of sage (1tsp if dried)
• 1/2 tsp of red chilli flakes
• 100ml whipping cream
• 1 tbsp capers in vinegar

To start, open the tin of tuna and place some of its oil in a pan over medium fire and when warm add the anchovy’s fillets. Help the anchovies melting down with the oil using a wooden spatula.
Peel the garlic and chop it fine but not in paste.
By now the anchovies should be melted, add then the garlic, the chilli flakes and the sage to the pan and stir. Let cook for 1-2 minutes stirring frequently to avoid burning the garlic and after add the tuna. Mix well everything together, add 250ml of water (more or less 1 glass), cover, lower the fire and let cook for a couple of minutes. In the meantime boil your salty water for the pasta and cook the penne.
When the water in the pan will be almost all evaporated, add the cream and stir. Let reduce for few minutes till the sauce obtains a creamy consistency (if you think that the sauce is too liquid, you can dissolve a tsp of starch in a bit of cold water and add it to the pan to thicken the sauce).
Poor the drained pasta in the pan, add the capers and mix well over low fire before serving.
If you want, you can sprinkle the dish with some grated Parmiggiano cheese.

The sauce should be enough for 200g of pasta, so for 2-3 people (even 1, depends on your hunger and how sauce you like your pasta).
Let me know when you will try it.

Bis nächste mal! (yeah, I know, my German is dreadful :P)