Pesto & Tuna Pasta

I'm pretty excited to share with you my first experience with pesto! On Sunday Easter, I bought a bottle of homemade pesto at Tinderbox and I kept it in the refrigerator. I had it there but completely forgot about it until two days ago. But we were at my in-laws so I couldn't make it. I wondered if it was still good after storing it for 3 weeks.

olive oil + garlic + onion + tuna + tuna oil

The reason why I've never cooked pesto was because I've never had an inclination towards it. I didn't grow up eating the stuff nor did my parents. The only memory I have of pesto was the pork chops I had in a restaurant once. Somehow I always thought pesto was too salty and complicated to make. I've seen recipes online and on cooking shows, and the recipes usually asks for pine nuts. Where do I find pine nuts in Cebu???

 *Let me come back at you with the prices of these 2.

It's only lately that I've come across pesto recipes that use more local products like spinach, kalamunggay, walnuts, and peanuts. Turns out, there are many combinations possible as long as you have the greens, the nuts, cheese, and oil (usually olive oil). Again, another recipe that needs further exploration.

the pesto and tuna sauce.

OK, so about the homemade pesto sauce I bought at Tinderbox. I couldn't tell the combination, although I think they used the classic version. I could definitely taste the parmesan and olive oil, but had no clue what greens and nuts were used. I decided to make this with pasta. I didn't have meat on-hand so I looked online for my other options and found that this goes great with tuna. Luckily, I always have canned tuna on-hand!

My 2-year old daughter has this sad habit of not eating red food. Consequently, spaghetti with red sauce is no-success at home, no matter how hard I try. I tried giving her Jollibee spaghetti in hope to change her mind, but that failed! Luckily, she ate and loved this Pesto and Tuna Pasta! If this was successful on the little one, you can only imagine how it was for the adults!

Pesto & Tuna  Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 garlic, minced
• 1 180 grams tuna can in vegetable oil (do not drain oil)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 store-bought bottle of homemade pesto sauce
• grated Parmesan cheese, for topping

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in an large pan (I used a wok because we don't have a big pan). Saute garlic and onion together. When onion becomes translucent, add in the tuna and its oil. Saute for a couple of minutes and stir. Add in the pesto and stir. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water. When cooked, drain thoroughly (I like to set aside a ladle of pasta water; this helps the sauce stick to the noodles). Add the drained pasta to the pesto sauce. Pour in a ladle of pasta water and mix the pasta and sauce well. Transfer to serving plate. Top with grated parmesan. Serve hot and enjoy!