Rocco’s Tuna Aglio e Olio – did someone say Italy?
Rocco and Ron belonged to a cross country mountain bike racing team together long ago, and continued to ride together even after we moved to Connecticut. Rocco was born and raised on the South Shore of Boston, but he was of Italian descent, and he loved all things Italy. He biked in the Italian Alps whenever he got the chance. I don’t know if he brought this recipe back with him or if he got it from his nonna, but in either case, Rocco’s Aglio e Olio is a keeper.
It’s so pungent and tasty. When Ron first made it for me, I fell in love, and requested that he make Rocco’s Tuna Aglio e Olio a couple of times a month. When I gushed about it to my mother, her response was – That’s an awful lot of oil isn’t it? I thought about it. I regretted having told her about it, but the deed was done. Her words echoed in my head. I had no choice but to back off from the oil! I must note that this was at a time in my life when I didn’t dip sourdough in flavored oil either. In retrospect, my rigidity was a bit silly. But I was quite a bit thinner then. Hmmm.
So, we hadn’t made this dish in many years. However, It’s late March and we still have an abundance of garlic from last summer’s harvest, that’s starting to dry out and sprout, so we needed to find some way to use it up. Rocco’s Tuna Aglio e Olio came to mind. I was excited to recreate it.
It’s so, so simple! I have a wonderful cookbook called While the Pasta Cooks. It is filled with similar recipes for sauces that are big on flavor but that take no time at all – you make the sauce while the pasta cooks (of course)! It’s all about quality ingredients. Just so Italian. The only thing difficult about this dish is deciding cheese, or no cheese? I’m sure it’s great either way, but I prefer a generous amount of cracked black pepper; no cheese.
Rocco’s Tuna Aglio e Olio
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Barilla gluten-free spaghetti
- 2 cans tuna packed in oil
- 5 anchovies
- 12 ounces baby spinach
- 3 heads garlic
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Put the pasta water on to boil and prep the garlic – Fill your pasta pot with water and bring it to a boil. While it's coming to temp, peel and coarsely chop the two heads of garlic and mince the other head of garlic. Chop the parsley and set aside.
- Start the sauce and drop the pasta – Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the coarsely chopped garlic and the anchovies. Cook over medium heat until the garlic begins to take on some color. Add the tuna and its oil to the pan, breaking it up with your wooden spoon as much as possible. Once the pasta water has come to a full boil, salt the water generously, then drop in the pasta. Stir and set your timer for 2 minutes shy of the pasta cooking instructions on the box.
- Strain the pasta and add it to the skillet – Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then strain the pasta. Add the minced garlic to the skillet then pour in the pasta. Stir to combine and remove from the heat.
- Finish – Add the spinach to the pan and cover it. After the spinach has wilted, use tongs to toss the pasta, the sauce, and the spinach, adding a bit of the reserved pasta water if needed. Pour into a serving bowl or individual bowls, and serve.
INGREDIENT NOTE: You may be surprised that I’m using canned tuna in this recipe. I was surprised too when Ron first made Rocco’s Tuna Aglio e Olio for me. It works, though. The tuna and anchovies melt into the olive oil, and I don’t think fresh tuna would achieve the same sauciness. I buy Genova canned yellowfin tuna from BJ’s. It’s sustainably harvested and packed in good olive oil.
