Tuna Pasta with Capers & Lemon

Ingredients

• 350 g linguine or spaghetti
• 2 x 145g tins tuna in olive oil, drained, oil reserved
• 4 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• 20 g fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50 g Parmesan, finely grated
• 1 tbsp butter
• Crusty bread, to serve
• Green salad, to serve

Method

1. Salt the pasta water generously — it should taste like the sea. This is your only chance to season the pasta itself. Drop the linguine into the boiling water and cook until al dente, around 9–10 minutes. Before draining, scoop out a big mugful of the starchy water — you'll need it.
2. While the pasta cooks, warm the olive oil and reserved tuna oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the sliced garlic and chilli flakes and cook just until fragrant and pale gold, around 60–90 seconds. Watch it — burnt garlic turns the whole dish bitter, and there's no rescuing it.
3. Stir in the capers and let them sizzle for 30 seconds — the heat takes their sharp edge off and pushes them into the oil. Flake in the tuna in proper chunks and turn it through gently. You want texture here, not paste.
4. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice straight into the pan — the acid wakes up the tuna and capers and stops the whole thing tasting flat. Tip in the drained pasta with a generous splash of the reserved pasta water and toss hard for a minute so the starchy water emulsifies with the oil.
5. Pull the pan off the heat. Add the butter and Parmesan and toss again until the sauce turns glossy and clings to every strand — off the heat is the trick, or the Parmesan seizes into clumps. Now taste. The capers and Parmesan carry most of the salt, so season with black pepper first, then taste again and add a pinch of sea salt only if it needs it. Adjust now — at the end, not at the table.
6. Pile into warm bowls, scatter generously with the chopped parsley, and lay lemon wedges alongside for squeezing. Serve with crusty bread to mop the pan and a sharply dressed green salad on the side.