I tried a new recipe this week, Spaghetti with Tuna and Capers.
This recipe attracted me because it was a new and different way to use tuna (a pretty darn frugal pantry staple) in a dinner. Also it looked very simple to prepare.
Of course, being frugal I don’t keep an ingredient like capers on hand, and I wasn’t about to go out and buy any either. Instead I turned to my good friend Google. A quick search of “substitution for capers” brought a site that suggested substituting green olives and a dash of lemon juice. I did have both of those on hand!
The family liked this to varying degrees. Princess thought it was delicious, Yankee Bill and I though it was pretty good, and Buddy wasn’t all that thrilled with it, mostly due to the green olives, but did finish his serving (although the lure of desert probably had something to do with that).
This recipe served a moderate size serving to 2 adults and 2 pretty small children. If I were serving a couple of older children I would probably double the recipe. This is a much lighter recipe than a typical red sauce, so it would also make a wonderful “luncheon” dish.
The Tuna mixture is cooked and then placed on top of hot spaghetti. It is best if you can time the cooking of your spaghetti so that it is cooked and hot just as the sauce is completed.
1 Can Tuna on Oil
1 Can Diced Tomatoes (I did not use seasoned ones)
1 Small Onion-diced
Salt
Pepper
2 TBS Capers (or chopped green olives)
Grated Parmesan Cheese
-Place Tuna (undrained) in frying pan with onion and sautéed till onion is translucent.
-Add Tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and warm through.
-Add Capers (or Green Olives).
-Ladle over spaghetti and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese.
This sounds sooo good! I actually have some tuna steaks in our freezer and I think I might use those with this recipe instead of the canned tuna! Thanks!
What an excellent idea to find a frugal replacement for the capers. Whenever I see an ingredient like that I just skip the recipe. – Mac
Mac-It is always worth trying to search for a replacement. Then if there isn’t a good one you can skip the recipe.
Jia-it was good, but I think I’d reserve the tuna steak to be seared on the grill and use the cheap canned stuff for this 🙂
That sounds really good, but my 4yo is allergic to tuna (weird, I know). Do you think it would be good with canned chicken, or is the tuna very important?