This is the simplest tuna dinner, built on just pasta, the canned tuna and its liquid, and garlic in oil. When nothing else is in the cupboard, this dish appears on the table in less than twenty minutes.

Serves 2. 20 minutes, 8 at the stove.

About 560 calories a serving, 21 g protein, 65 g carbohydrate, 24 g fat. From USDA figures for 100% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat and cook 6 oz of pasta until tender, stirring once or twice, about ten minutes. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water before draining.10 min
2. While the pasta cooks, slice 3 cloves of garlic thin and warm 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until it turns light gold and smells sweet, about two minutes.2 min
3. Drain the tuna, saving all its liquid. Add the tuna and its liquid to the garlic oil and stir gently to warm through, about one minute.1 min
4. Add the hot drained pasta to the skillet with one-half cup of the reserved cooking water, stirring to combine. The starch in the water will thicken the liquid into a light sauce. Add more cooking water if needed to loosen it, and taste for salt and pepper before plating.

Note Stir in fresh lemon juice or red wine vinegar at the end to brighten it. Leftovers keep for two days covered in the cold box. Serve with a sharp salad or a squeeze of lemon wedge.