Here’s a “shortcut” meal that takes as long as it takes to cook a ½ pound of penne pasta. It’s quick, easy, and delicious and if there are any leftovers, you’ll have a great lunch the next day.

The idea for this recipe originally came while my wife and I were on our honeymoon in Italy years ago. We visited my sister-in-laws friends who lived in Rome and invited us over for dinner. They made this dish with canned or jarred Italian tuna, fresh artichoke hearts and olives that they just brought back from Sicily while visiting family.

As simple as this dish was, it was one of the best meals my wife and I had on our trip and that’s including some very nice restaurants. I think it had something to do with being in someone’s home, sharing a meal with new friends and being on an adventure.

The reason I call it a shortcut meal is because I used canned artichoke hearts instead of fresh and I’m sure this pasta dish would even be better with fresh artichoke hearts but I needed to prepare this in a hurry.

I also used a jar of solid tuna imported from Italy and a can of artichoke hearts imported from Spain. The artichoke hearts should be packed in water not oil. Both these items were picked up at an Italian specialty store.

There is really nothing to cook but the pasta. Oh yeah, I did sauté some garlic in the oil the tuna was packed in. The rest of the ingredients just need to be heated up while the pasta is cooking. Here’s what I did.

Ingredients:

½ pound penne pasta (1/2 a box)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 - 10.5 oz  jar of imported tuna packed in olive oil
1 – 14 oz. can of artichoke hearts packed in water, cut into quarters
10 or 12 Kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half or quarters
Salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese, optional

How to Prepare at Home

Get a big pot of water boiling for the pasta. Add some salt and throw in the penne pasta. Immediately give it a stir and cook until al dente. (You can read my page on how to cook pasta here)

While the pasta is cooking, sauté the garlic in some of the oil the tuna is packed in. When the garlic gives off that incredible fragrance when cooked in oil, add the artichoke hearts, tuna (with oil) and olives.

While the sauce is heating up, the artichoke hearts and tuna will breakup into smaller pieces. No problem.

When I was preparing this at home, I thought the sauce was too thick so I added a few ladles of water from the pasta pot. It helped thin out the sauce just a little so it would be easier to cover the penne. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper.

Once the pasta is done, drain it and plate it. Add your sauce and serve. I’m not sure if Parmesan cheese is right with this dish but my wife grated some on hers and it looked good so I did the same. It was delicious.