Tuna Tomato Olive Pasta Bake

Chicken, Turkey and Fish Suppers

One 8×12 in (20×30 cm) dish, at least 3 qt/2.8 L;4 main-dish portions · Active 30 min · Total 1 hr 20 min

Tuna flakes, black olives and capers give a tomato pasta bake a savory edge without a cheese blanket. Zucchini is cooked down before the sauce, and coarse bread crumbs finish the surface. Keep the fish in recognizable pieces and let the olives supply their own briny seasoning instead of automatically salting every stage.

Jump to ingredients

Drawn tuna, tomato and black-olive fusilli bake with light golden crumbs.

Pitted means checked

Buy pitted black olives and cut them into small pieces, checking for any fragments as you go. A label is useful, but it cannot make a hard pit pleasant to bite. Drain capers before measuring too. These ingredients bring salt with them, so the base has no extra salt. Plain canned tuna in water is the specified fish. Drain it, inspect with a fork and keep broad flakes; an oil-packed can would change the oil and sauce balance. There is no need to stir the tuna into fine fibers before it reaches the pasta.

Let zucchini finish its watery stage

Cook small zucchini dice in the wide skillet until they are nearly tender and no puddle remains. Then add tomatoes and passata and let them simmer into a coating sauce. Pasta goes into that sauce while both are warm, two minutes short of the packet finish. Fusilli holds some sauce in its spirals without becoming a solid heavy layer. Fold gently after adding the fish. The final oven period heats the assembled pan rather than boiling dry pasta or correcting raw vegetables.

A little crumb, not a whole loaf

Forty grams of coarse fresh breadcrumbs makes a light surface across the pan. Toss with the measured oil and lemon zest so the topping carries flavor without needing Parmesan. Keep it loose; fine dry powder would form a different crust. Check the casserole center before serving, and shield the top loosely if it browns before the middle is hot. The illustrated portion has no extra herbs or lemon wedge. A sharp green salad can be useful alongside, but it is separate from this measured recipe.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz dry fusilli pasta (225 g)
  • 10 cups water (2.4 L), for pasta
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (30 ml), divided equally between sauce and crumbs
  • 1 medium red onion, finely chopped (150 g)
  • 1 medium zucchini, cut in 1/2-in/1-cm dice (250 g prepared)
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (9 g)
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes with juice (14 oz/400 g)
  • 1 cup tomato passata (250 ml)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 12 oz plain canned tuna in water, drained and inspected (340 g drained)
  • 1/3 cup pitted black olives, chopped (60 g)
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained (10 g)
  • 2/3 cup coarse fresh breadcrumbs (40 g)
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (2 g)

Set out

Oven, 8×12 in (20×30 cm) baking dish, at least 3 qt/2.8 L, Large pasta saucepan, 12-in/30-cm deep skillet, Colander, Fork, Small bowl, Rimmed baking sheet, Food thermometer, Suitable foil for loose shielding if the topping colors before the center finishes

Allergens

Fish: tuna, Wheat; check pasta for egg and bread for milk, sesame or other allergens. Check labels and substitutions.

Make it

  1. Heat oven to 400°F (205°C). Put the dish on a rimmed sheet and bring pasta water to a boil. Heat 15 ml oil in the skillet over medium heat and cook onion 7–9 minutes until soft.
  2. Add zucchini and cook 6–8 minutes until nearly tender and loose water has evaporated. Add garlic for 30 seconds, then tomatoes, passata, oregano and pepper. Simmer 8–10 minutes until thick but moist.
  3. Meanwhile boil fusilli 2 minutes short of its packet time and drain. Fold tuna, olives and capers into the warm sauce gently, then fold in pasta and spread in the dish.
  4. Mix crumbs, remaining 15 ml oil and lemon zest in the small bowl. Scatter loosely. Bake 20–25 minutes until crumbs are golden and the center and several other spots reach 165°F (74°C). Shield the top loosely if needed while the center finishes.
  5. Rest 5 minutes, then serve one-quarter per person.

Fold the fish last

Make the sauce smooth before adding tuna. A few broad folds leave flakes visible and keep the dish from looking like uniformly mashed tomato pasta.

A useful detail

The 80-minute total includes sauce preparation, overlapping pasta cooking, the full bake and rest. Olives and capers season the pan; no extra salt is required in the base.

Another way

  • Replace tuna with 340 g drained inspected plain canned salmon. Keep the same sauce and final 165°F (74°C) endpoint, and update the fish label.

Keep it well

Refrigerate shallow portions within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C), at 40°F (4°C) or below. Use within 2 days or an earlier opened-fish deadline. Reheat to 165°F (74°C), adding a little water if pasta has absorbed sauce. Freeze promptly cooled portions for up to 1 month for quality; thaw in the refrigerator. The crumb topping softens.

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