An Old Stand-By

I was reminiscing with Lincoln the other day about how we are not strangers to financial pressure and scary unemployment figures. It just seems so long ago...the turn of the century, when cell phones were a bit thicker, a twitter was the sound of a bird outside your window and on-line communities were still posting text to Usenet. He reminded me that our experience with hard times goes way back - as children, we witnessed the recession of the 80s and were job seekers during the sink hole of the early 90s. I reminded him that despite the hefty weight of student loans, we managed to have a lot of fun on no money. We both remembered the proud moment we paid off Lincoln's J.D. in three years (faster than Barack and Michelle Obama, by the way) and our financial adviser asked us, "How did you do it? Did you live on macaroni and cheese?" No, but we did eat a lot of meals like this one:

Pasta Al Tonno (Tuna Pasta)

I originally learned this recipe from Cucina Ebraica by Joyce Goldstein, but over time, have adapted it to my own taste. You can play around with it. Leave the tomato paste out or use garlic instead of onion. Omit the red wine and use canned tomato instead to make it more sauce-like than solid. This is a recipe that will let you find your own way.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup of parsely, chopped
1 can of tuna - I use solid white in water, but you can use Italian tuna in oil.
About 6 anchovies or to your taste
1 teaspoon capers
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
1/4 cup of red wine

2 cups rigatoni, penne or linguine noodles

Follow directions for cooking pasta, drain and place in large bowl. While pasta is on the stove, heat a frying pan and add olive oil. Sautee the chopped onion and parsely until soft. Add tuna, anchovies and capers and mix together. Add tomato paste and wine and stir mixture. Add to pasta and blend thoroughly. Garnish with parsely. Serve with crusty bread and salad.