Canned tuna and pasta

[tdiprincess]

hi there,
my husband and I are on a small budget right now. We have canned tuna and pasta. I've been making the tuna fish with different spices and dips.
Tonight I did garlic powder, chili powder, crushed red pepper, horsey sauce, mayo, salt and dill relish.

I make my own pasta sauce.
but any other suggestions? I know tuna casserole (I just hate to make it...)
tuna melts...

any creative ideas? I figure right now I'm limited on what I can use. Anything creative will help.
Thanks!

 

[kitchenelf]

Think more Asian - as in tuna patties - maybe some soy, ginger, garlic, spring onions, egg white to hold it together, some kind of "heat" i.e., garlic chili paste. Form into patties and turn ONLY once or they will fall apart.

You can serve on a bed of pasta or even rice.

 

[Dina]

I make my tuna patties with mashed potatoes and spices. Mix all together and lightly fry in extra virgin olive oil.

 

[tdiprincess]

hmm i like the ideas..thanks.. i will try soon!

 

[Bilby]

I do several things with canned tuna.

Using potatoes sliced thinly, layer them over a plate slightly overlapping spread tuna over par-cooked potatoes, and top with some taco sauce and grated cheese. Zap until potatoes cooked and cheese melted and top with sour cream and spring onions.

Again I use potatoes here in the same manner but you could substitute pasta shapes for the potatoes. Layer bottom of casserole dish with potatoes or pasta, top with a mix of tuna, butter beans, diced tomatoes, diced onions all mixed up with a decent amount of tomato paste. Top with another layer of potatoes or pasta. If you like you can pour a bit of cream over the top of the dish, which may be advisable if using pasta, and then top with grated cheese(s). Again as all ingredients are cooked, you only need cook until the cheese is melted and the dish is warmed through.

With linguine or spaghetti, mix tuna, sliced olives and halved fresh cherry tomatoes through with some cream, garlic, parsley, chives and some tomato paste. You can also add a dash of white wine into the sauce if you like.

I also make baked potatoes in their jackets topped with tuna, taco sauce and grated cheese. Salad on the side.

Mix tuna with a white sauce and wrap into filo triangles. You can add some veges into the mix if you like. Or you can turn it into a pie or roll instead of triangles.

Use tuna instead of meat to make a lasagna. Throw some olives into the mix as well.

Add tuna to mac and cheese. Throw in some cashew nuts for a bit of crunch. Instead of the normal cheese sauce, use a chile con queso dip instead.

Cucumber cups stuffed with tuna and mayo.

Tuna and mayo sushi.

Hope this helps!

 

[Claire]

My husband's very favorite summer dish (oh dearie me, is it ever coming?) is salad nicoise.

Tuna, olive oil, and spaghetti tossed are a good combo. If you can spring for some capers or green peppercorns in brine for some zip, or some olives, great.

I make my tuna patties southern style. Pretend you're making Maryland crab cakes. An egg, a little crushed crackers, lots of Chesapeak bay seasoning (if you don't have it some hot pepper, paprika, celery salt, garlic seasoning of some sort, and black pepper). Mush it all together (that's a technical term, don't you know), then form into patties then roll in bread crumbs of some sort. Fry at a pretty high heat (remember you're not cooking the tuna) until brown on each side. This is another of DH's favorite dishes.

 

[Angie]

Add it to a box of mac and cheese (already made) with some lemon juice and black pepper! Throw in a veggie too if you like.

 

[pacanis]

Bilby, you have me thinking of opening that can of tuna I've had in the pantry for a year. Those were some pretty creative, yet simple recipes.

 

[Toots]

I like to take bow tie pasta and toss it with canned tuna and fresh pesto (or sometimes just dried basil, if I dont have any pesto on hand), maybe throw in a few sliced grape tomatoes and give it a sprinkle of parm cheese.

 

[Bilby]

The real beauty with most of those meals Pacanis, is that you can substitute just about anything you like for anything else you prefer!! So many of them are good fridge cleaners too!! Most can also be done in the microwave and are quick. I try not to use the oven for more than fifteen minutes at a hit for about 1/3 of the year (at least).

 

[Bilby]

Another recipe sitting in my emails from the Australia Day long weekend:

Welcome to MASTERFOODS

 

[Constance]

One thing we do that's really tasty:

Mix drained tuna, sliced green olives (the less expensive salad olives are fine), a small spoon full of mustard and enough mayonnaise to make the mixture creamy.
Slice a French loaf lengthwise and hollow out the middle (save for croutons or breadcrumbs). Scoop the tuna mixture into the shell, cover loosely with foil, and heat in 350 oven until mixture is hot & bubbly and cheese is melted. Slice into serving size pieces and lap it up.
If you don't have a French loaf, spoon onto buns and wrap each in foil.

 

[tdiprincess]

mmm...these all sound good.
Tonight I made Spaghetti sauce. Cooked some pasta. I steamed some veggies.
Then I made tuna patties. I used garlic, soy sauce, egg, mayo, crushed red pepper and sesame seeds to season the tuna. Then I fried them in a bit of sesame oil.
They passed by the hubby!
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be trying the other ones as well.

 

[*amy*]

Is there any tuna left?

I'll second the salad nicoise, & add a Panzanella to the list.

This may sound odd, but I made a tuna pizza, with sauteed peppers & onions, lots of black pepper & mozzarella cheese on crescent roll dough that was pretty tasty.

Tuna calzones w ricotta & sun-dred tomatoes, would be another idea.

There's an Italian dish tuna balls(?) that's served w tomato sauce & pasta.

Tuna cakes made with stuffing mix.

Tuna-Spinach Braid is another way to go. Serve w your fave soup. Tomato comes to mind.

Tuna Spinach Braid Recipe | Taste of Home Recipes

 

[mudbug]

Think more Asian - as in tuna patties - maybe some soy, ginger, garlic, spring onions, egg white to hold it together, some kind of "heat" i.e., garlic chili paste. Form into patties and turn ONLY once or they will fall apart.

You can serve on a bed of pasta or even rice.

We've been eating lots of tuna around here lately, elfie. these sound good!

 

[Little Italy]

I would like to fry the tuna patties, how do you keep them together? I only have 5 eggs so if there is another way beside egg whites

 

[GotGarlic]

I would like to fry the tuna patties, how do you keep them together? I only have 5 eggs so if there is another way beside egg whites

I don't see why you couldn't use a whole egg.

 

[Little Italy]

and just mix them together?

 

[Little Italy]

What i ended up doing for dinner tonight was put an egg for a single can of tuna and put some lemon pepper and cerreol in it and fried it in olive oil. Then I made a bed of rice and put the tuna patty on top of the rice with Teriyaki sauce drizzled over it.

 

[karenlyn]

They eat a lot of tuna here-- and there are lots of nice ways to make it! Mix it with onion, mayo, caper, lemon (and whatever else you like) and stuff it inside a whole red roasted pepper. Serve as a side or on lettuce as a light lunch. Or use tuna in oil (much more flavorful than tuna in water) as a topping for salad.

One of my favorite "white trash" foods (excuse the expression!) is tuna a la king. Make a relatively heavy bechamel sauce, add tuna, thawed frozen peas, pepper, and salt, and serve over toast (I rip my toast into bite-sized bits). Comfort food to the core.

I like my tuna patties with a wasabi or horseradish mayonnaise. Mmm... sounds good for dinner, actually.

-Karen