really easy sweet potato tuna pasta
more of a concept than a recipe, this is so stupid easy all you need is a bowl, a pot of boiling water, and a microwave. if you don’t have a microwave a sheet pan and an oven will do just fine. and, you can swap in whatever seasonal or handy herbs and vegetables you’ve got.
WHAT YOU NEED
3oz jarred tuna - I like to use Tonnino brand packed in water
5 Castelvetrano (green) olives - Kalamatas could work too
1 TBSP olive juice
1/4 - 1/3 box of uncooked pasta - ideally fusilli, rotini, rigatoni, or penne
1 medium sweet potato, roasted (no oil needed) until semi-soft at 375 for 30-40 minutes or microwaved for 3-4 minutes
3 spritzes of Avocado oil spray, or 1 TSP oil of your choice
1 handful of parsley
Optional: 1 TBSP Balsamic Glaze
HOW TO
STEP 1
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. When ready, boil your pasta until al dente, add it to a bowl, and spritz 3-4 times with avocado oil spray, tossing lightly to coat the noodles.
While your pasta boils, if you haven’t yet roasted the sweet potato, cook it in the microwave. Allow it to cool, then chop it into 1 inch chunks by first cutting it in half then in quarters and so on.
Roughly chop your parsley to desired texture. You could easily tear the leaves by hand so you don’t have to get out a chopping board, just be sure to include the tender stems (the stems closest to the leaves) too for added texture.
Crush the olives with your hands or the back of a spoon. If you’re using Kalamatas or anything other than Castelvetranos, which tend to be softer, it may be easier to chop them in half.
STEP 2
Mix the sweet potato, olives, olive juice, parsley, and tuna with the pasta, or all ingredients other than the balsamic glaze, in your bowl. Be sure to break up the tuna into chunks once you add it to the pasta. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until all ingredients are heated. Add the balsamic glaze, or other seasonings of your choice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
NOTES
You can cook a pot of pasta ahead of time and have it ready in your fridge to put this together in less than 5 minutes.
You can swap out parsley and sub in lots of dill.
Get creative with seasonings. Need a little garlic kick? Great, throw in roasted garlic if you have it, or, even easier, sprinkle on Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Seasoning at the end. Want more umami? Even though I usually don’t mix fish with cheese (a sin!), I think some shaved parmesan or pecorino romano goes great on top of this. Breadcrumbs mixed with dried herbs and grated parm would be really nice too. heck, throw on some hot sauce!
Use the greens you’ve got. The last time I made this I threw in almost-wilted boxed greens, parboiled zucchini noodles I cooked in 3 minutes, and leftover roasted purple cabbage I had made a la Sophia Roe. A real clean out the fridge meal!
