Pasta al Tonno

Name: Pasta al Tonno
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: Dried pasta; Tinned tuna in spring water; Olive oil; Tinned plum tomatoes; Garlic; Capers; Black olives; Dried chilli flakes; Flat-leaf parsley

481 kcal a serving, against 600 for the traditional version. That is 119 kcal off, or 20%, with 37.6g of protein. Serves 4. 15 minutes.

What the traditional version is

A fast pasta sauce made by frying garlic, chilli, capers and black olives in olive oil, then adding a tin of tuna with its oil and some tomatoes. Served with long pasta and absolutely no cheese.

What changed, and what each change costs

200g of tuna in oil down to 400g of tuna in spring water

Tuna in oil is saturated with fat. Spring water tuna is pure lean protein. By ditching the oil you save hundreds of calories, which leaves room to use 400g of fish instead.

What it costs you. Tuna in spring water is drier. You've got to flake it into the tomato sauce right at the end so it warms through without turning to sawdust.

60g of olive oil down to 15g

Because you aren't using the oil from the tuna tin, and you don't need a huge glug in the frying pan either. A small splash is plenty to fry the garlic and bloom the chilli.

What it costs you. You lose that rich, oily mouthfeel that coats the pasta. The sauce feels slightly sharper and more acidic, but the capers and olives carry the flavour just fine.

100g of dried pasta a head down to 80g

You've got 100g of tuna per person now. The plate is going to be incredibly full, so the missing 20g of pasta won't be noticed.

What it costs you. Less carbohydrate, which is the only real cost. The fish completely takes over the bulk of the meal.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Dried pasta
Tinned tuna in spring water
Olive oil
Tinned plum tomatoes
Garlic
Capers
Black olives
Dried chilli flakes
Flat-leaf parsley

How it starts

Put a large pan of well salted water on to boil.
Drop the pasta into the boiling water and set a timer for 2 minutes less than the packet says.
Put a large frying pan over a medium heat.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Italian.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	600	481
Protein	27.4g	37.6g
Fat	18.3g	6.9g
Saturated fat	2.7g	1.2g
Carbohydrate	80.6g	65.6g
Protein per 100 kcal	4.6g	7.8g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Italian prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. gluten, fish.

The method is in the book

This is the perfect midweek dinner. You get a massive portion, a sharp and punchy sauce, and a colossal hit of protein for very little effort. The original oil-drenched version is richer, but this one leaves you feeling fed rather than sluggish. I make this at least twice a month when I can't be bothered to go to the shops.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Italian, along with 59 more. Buy the paperback