A weeknight pasta built on canned tuna and its oil, with garlic and red pepper flakes to lift it. This shelf has just one ingredient, so dinner comes straight from what you keep on hand most nights.

Serves 2. 25 minutes, 12 at the stove.

About 640 calories a serving, 64 g protein, 87 g carbohydrate, 4 g fat. From USDA figures for 75% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook 8 ounces of pasta until it is just tender, about 9 to 10 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining.10 min
2. While the pasta cooks, mince 4 cloves of garlic. Drain the two 5-ounce cans of tuna, reserving the oil, and break the tuna into bite-sized flakes.
3. Warm the reserved tuna oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the flaked tuna and warm through, about 2 minutes.3 min
4. Toss the hot pasta with the tuna, garlic, and oil, adding the reserved pasta water a few tablespoons at a time until the dish is loosely coated and sliding in the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Note Swap dried oregano or thyme for the red pepper flakes if you prefer. Leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator for two days and can be eaten cold or warmed gently in a pan. Serve with lemon wedges and crusty bread on the side.