Several years ago, I found myself at a fancy Italian restaurant where I did not recognize a single dish on the menu. At the time, Italian food, to me, consisted of spaghetti, garlic bread, and chicken parmesana with a slice of melted cheese on top.
I ended up ordering a simple Tuna dish with lemon, Kalamata olives, and parsley. I don’t remember what it was called, but it sounds very similar to these recipes here, here, and here, only without the pasta. Tonight, that’s not what I was craving, but what I wound up making brought back memories of that dish.
What I was really craving was good old tuna mac casserole with cream of mushroom soup. The two-can, one-box meal was quick, easy to make, and tasted great to the grade school kid I was when this meal was a big part of my diet. Occassionally, I still crave a big bowl of this dish, but haven’t really come up with a good way to make it given the gluten and dairy constraints. Until now, that is.
After rummaging through the pantry, I came up with half a box of GF spiral pasta (de Boles), albacore tuna, a can of chopped olives, and some Tofutti DF sour cream which I hadn’t tried before tonight. With some basic spices, onions and garlic, I figured I had enough ingredients for a meal. Sure, it’s not rustic Italian cuisine, but it was pretty quick, easy to make, and tasted good.
I was looking for some comfort food, so I used a rice-milk slurry and a touch of sour cream for moisture and richness. But, lemon juice or crushed tomatoes would be good – and healthier – substitutes. You could also add capers, white beans, italian parsley and/or sauteed mushrooms to the mix.
GF DF Pasta with Tuna and Olives Recipe
Serves 2
- 4 oz. gluten free pasta
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp rice flour
- 4 Tbsp rice milk
- ¼ cup black olives, chopped
- 1 6-oz can white albacore tuna in water, drained
- ¼ dairy-free sour cream
- ¼ – ½ tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Boil pasta, drain, and set aside.
Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add rice flour and stir briefly. Add in 2 Tbsp of rice milk to create a slurry.
In a small bowl, mix together sour cream substitute, remaining 2 Tbsp rice milk, and paprika well (should not be lumpy).
Lightly toss together olives, tuna, pasta, onion mixture, and sour cream mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve.
About Stormy Sweitzer - Maoomba-in-chief