Use Your Noodle Tuna Skillet

Today's lunch was named by my daughter. She asked what I was eating (she had plain noodles with olive oil and Parmesan) and I said I didn't know. I made up the recipe, so I wasn't sure what to call it. She asked if it had fish in it. "Yeah, it has tuna." She declared it was Use Your Noodle Tuna Casserole. Well... it's not a casserole, it's all done in a skillet, so...

I did use my noodle on this one. I looked up recipes, didn't have all the ingredients for any of them, but got some ideas. I absolutely devoured it, as did the hubby, so it seems to have worked out

First off, start a big pot of salted water boiling, for the spaghetti (or the spaghetti-style rice pasta.) Then you can get busy with the rest. The "rest" doesn't take very long, so don't bother getting started on it until the pasta is in the water. Unless, of course, you're using that delightful spaghetti rigati from Barilla. That only needs 5 minutes, which isn't enough.

So, here's the rest:

1-2 T extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp bacon fat (I'd normally use more, but I'm running low)

1 tsp minced garlic (or more... once again, I'm running low)

about 1/2 cup? frozen pearl onions- I counted and I had 18 of them. I didn't measure.

1 T anchovy paste (or a couple anchovies, I didn't want to open a can)

2 shakes red pepper flakes

1/8 cup (or so) dry vermouth

1/4 cup (or so) chicken stock

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp dried basil

6 oz can of tuna

Sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat. After a couple of minutes, add the anchovy paste and stir it around until it starts to dissolve a bit. Add the red pepper flakes. When the garlic looks done (and definitely before it burns), add the vermouth. Let that reduce down a bit, then add the chicken stock, salt, and freshly-ground white pepper. Simmer away over medium-low heat. When the pasta has just a couple of minutes left, add the basil and tuna, making sure to break up any really big pieces of tuna. When the pasta is done and drained, and it to the skillet and stir around, so that all the noodles can suck up the sauce. Heat for a minute or two, then serve.

When I was gobbling mine down, I had two thoughts beyond "yummmmmm."

1) "This really needs some cream." *sniffle*

2) "Another way to do this would be to use green onions instead of pearl, add a bit of almond butter (or peanut, if you like it and it likes you), and some sesame oil at the end." That would taste Asian-ish.

Definitely very yummy.

Before I go... last night's dinner. It was supposed to be Nachos Grande or something like that,

using leftover chili. I didn't get to the store for avocados, and without cheese or beans, my nachos weren't going to be very "grande." So, instead I did a chili salad. Seriously. Like taco salad, but... um... wetter.

I think my daughter would have named this Monster Salad, because it looks like it has a face.