Garganelli Pasta with Tuna Bolognese Recipe.

This pasta on the super simple but delicious ingredients with Bolognese recipe from Tuna of Bologna is probably the simplest Italian tuna pasta recipe I know. However, despite its simplicity, it is recorded as a traditional recipe from Emilia-Romagna with the Italian Cuisine Academy (the Italian Academy of Cuisine).

Pasta with Bolognese tuna.

The Italian Cuisine Academy was founded in 1953 to preserve Italy’s gastronomic legacy! Before a recipe is recorded at the Academy, many historical research is conducted to discover its origins and links with the area in which it is considered traditional.

This research includes talking to gastronomy restaurateurs and experts. Food is a serious topic here in Italy! But, I rightly imagine as it is such an important part of the culture and traditions of the country!

The pasta with Bolognese tuna is a classic fast pasta dish made with tuna, tomatoes and canned onion. It is interesting to note that, although some Italians think of it as “fast food” for laziness, in reality it has become a traditional Bolognese dish due to historical events and post -war changes in the Italian diet.

The pasta.

At this point, I should mention that the traditional pasta for the Bolognese tuna is Spaghetti. In fact, in Bologna, this is Bolognese spaghetti! The famous dish with a traditional meat sauce is known locally as a “ragu” pasta and is made with non -spaghetti cuts!

In this recipe, I used the homemade Garganelli pasta, also a traditional food product in Bologna recorded at the Italian Academy of Cuisina! You can learn to prepare this pasta on my Garganelli with Sausage Post. This short egg paste is often eaten with the meat ragu in Emilia-Romagna, so I thought it would be really good with the Bolognese tuna!

This time I made my Garganelli but I also made this recipe with Garganelli fresh ready. But of course, you can use spaghetti or other pasta of your choice!

A little Bolognese Tonno history!

Apparently the first use of pasta with tuna in Emilia-Romagna dates back to the first post-war period. At that time, two fundamental things happened. First, the diffusion and use of dry pasta, in particular spaghetti, in northern Italy. Secondly, the marketing of oil tuna due to the birth of an industry of tuna in a local box.

Both canned tuna and spaghetti were cheap and combining them became an alternative recipe for what the Italian call “Lean Days” (Magro days). These are religious days of fasting, such as Good Friday or Christmas Eve, which require abstinence from meat.

In fact, for less rich lessons in Bologna, spaghetti with Bolognese tuna have become a special dish reserved for Christmas Eve dinner.

Other versions of pasta with tuna.

When I made this Garganelli with the Bolognese tuna, my Sicilian hubby wanted to add other ingredients such as olives and capers! After all, the tuna pasta is also made in other Italian regions, especially in the South.

But this is the official recipe of Bologna! The ingredients are typical of Bolognese eating habits! So no garlic, olives or capers! The only allowed exceptions are the addition of anchovies in the tuna sauce or in the parsley sprayed at the end of the preparation of the dish.

Ingredients.

Tomatoes: You can use fresh or canned tomatoes. I used San Marzano tomatoes peeled.

Tuna: Italians use tuna that is preserved in olive oil. It is certainly better. I like to use slightly more expensive tuna fillets. Like any simple recipe, the better the quality of the ingredients, the better it has a flavor!

Onion: All you need is a yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped. In Bologna, they use a local variety of onion called medicine. These onions have been grown on the Bolognese plain by the Middle Ages!

Parsley: The fresh chopped parsley adds a nice Herby flavor to the tuna sauce. The dry parsley is not recommended. However, parsley is optional as it is not included in the official recipe.

Step instructions step.

1) Put a pot of water to boil for the pasta, add salt once you start boiling and shown in a boil!

2) Peel the onion and cut it into very thin slices and brown in olive oil until translumenting.

3) Add the drained tuna broken into small pieces. Let it cook only for a minute with the onion over medium heat.

4) Add the peeled tomatoes cut into pieces. Use a wooden spoon to mix tomatoes and tuna together. Then, cook over low heat over low heat for about 25-30 minutes, until they are very soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5) In the meantime, cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the package. When the pasta is ready, drain and mix with the sauce. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley if necessary.

What to do with leftovers.

You can keep the remaining pasta with the Bolognese tuna in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Heat the leftovers in the microwave, on the top of the stove or even in the oven.

PIN for later.

Let me know what you think.

I think that Garganelli pasta with Bolognese tuna is a dish that is so beautiful for the “lazy” days in which you don’t want to spend time in the kitchen. The 3 main ingredients are fundamental elements in the displays of most people, so you can mount this Italian recipe in no time. Even children love it!

If you try this Garganelli pasta with the Bolognese Tuna recipe, I would like to hear what you think. Please write a comment here on the blog or publish a comment The Facebook page of the pasta project.

Your feedback means a lot for me!

Enjoy your meal!

Other recipes of canned tuna pasta on the pasta project

1. Spaghetti with tuna carbonara
2. Elbow pasta with tuna and cannellini beans
3. Pasta shells full of tuna and ricotta
4. Fusilli with black olive pesto and tuna
5. Spaghetti with tuna, mint and capers

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