Spaghetti with Tuna and Mushrooms

• servings: 6
• total time: 40 Minutes

Ingredients

1 pound spaghetti OR linguine

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

8 ounces cremini OR white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

4 medium garlic cloves, minced

¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Two 5-ounce cans olive oil–packed tuna, drained, oil reserved

14½-ounce can diced tomatoes

Directions

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Add the pasta and 1 tablespoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain; set aside.

In the same pot over medium-high, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the mushrooms, onion and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic, pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon black pepper and the reserved oil from the tuna; cook, stirring, until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes with juices and ½ cup of the reserved cooking water. Bring to a simmer and cook until a spatula leaves a trail when drawn through the mixture, about 5 minutes.

Add the pasta and tuna. Toss until the pasta is heated through and the sauce clings lightly, breaking up any large tuna chunks and adding more cooking water as needed. Off heat, taste and season with salt and black pepper. Serve drizzled with additional oil.

Notes

Optional garnish: Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

This is our take on the Italian dish known as spaghetti alla carrettiera (“in the style of cart drivers”). We were inspired by the Roman version, which uses tomatoes, tuna and dried porcini mushrooms, but we used cremini mushrooms. Olive oil–packed tuna is traditional; the oil often is added to the sauce, as we’ve done.