Tuna & butter bean pasta

Ingredients

For the pasta:

• 250gr gluten-free spaghetti or linguine

For the tuna and butter bean sauce:

• 2 Echalion shallots, finely chopped

• 4 garlic cloves, crushed

• 400gr tinned butter beans in salted water

• 400gr finely chopped tomatoes

• 200ml water

• 160gr tinned tuna (ideally in olive oil - chilli and garlic infused tuna works beautifully too)

• 2 tbsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

• 1 tbsp dried marjoram leaves (may be replaced with dried oregano, if unavailable)

• 1 red chilli, finely chopped and deseeded (adjust the quantity to taste - may be replaced with 1/4 tsp of chilli flakes)

• 1 large bay leaf

• 1/4 tsp brown sugar

• Salt and pepper to taste 

Method

In a large pan, I pour in the EVOO. To this, I add some freshly cracked pepper and a large bay leaf. Once the oil is hot and sizzling, the onions are added and stirred until translucent, followed by the crushed garlic. I, then, stir in the drained butter beans*, cook down for 2 minutes and mix in the tuna. I leave this on medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, before pouring in the finely chopped tomatoes and the water. I make sure to incorporate all of the ingredients, add the dried marjoram, sugar, and a generous amount of salt. I leave this to simmer on a gentle heat for about 30 minutes until fully reduced and thickened.

In the meantime, I add water and salt to a large pot and set it on high heat to bring to a boil for the pasta. I cook the pasta for about 6 minutes (or 2 minutes less than the recommended cooking time). Before draining the pasta, I add two ladles of pasta water to the reduced sauce, and I proceed to gently fold in the drained pasta.

As soon as the pasta has absorbed the excess liquid and is lusciously covered in sauce, I drizzle some good quality EVOO, sprinkle some freshly cracked black pepper, and serve immediately. This recipe feeds 2 people generously and could stretch to feed a little one too.

*A little note on the butter beans: The tinned butter beans found in the UK tend to be a little bit hard and not as flavourful as the ones we are used to getting in Malta. I find that simmering them in salted water with a bay leaf for 10 - 12 minutes helps with enhancing the flavour and tenderising them. I would recommend doing this beforehand and cooling the beans down before adding them to the sauce, as suggested in the recipe.