Tuna meatballs with parsley pesto pasta
- Jane Kennedy - One Dish. Two Ways.
- Jun 9, 2015
- 2 min read
The zesty, tangy, pesto hit makes these otherwise plain tuna meatballs adult-worthy. Serve the meatballs with veggie spaghetti if you’d rather skip the pasta. And if you like the idea of a sit-down family meal, cook the kids’ and adults’ meatballs at the same time in two separate pans.
INGREDIENTS
425g tinned tuna in oil, drained
100g dry breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 lemon, zested
1 egg
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
400g spaghetti
INGREDIENTS FOR ADULTS
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons chives, snipped
PARSLEY PESTO
3 tablespoons blanched almonds
2 cups flat-leaf parsley, loosely packed
1/3 cup chives, snipped
80ml olive oil
25g parmesan, grated
freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
Whiz the tuna, breadcrumbs, pine nuts, lemon zest and egg in a food processor until just combined. Halve the mixture.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Reserve 250 ml of the cooking liquid and drain the pasta.
DISH ONE
While the pasta is cooking, shape tablespoons of one portion of the tuna mixture into balls. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and cook the tuna balls, turning frequently, for 2–3 minutes, or until nicely golden. To serve, drizzle a little olive oil over the pasta and top with the plain tuna meatballs.
DISH TWO
To make the parsley pesto, pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Add the parsley, chives, olive oil and parmesan and pulse a little more. Season with pepper.
Mix the parsley and chives through the remaining tuna mixture and shape tablespoonfuls into balls. Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Cook the tuna meatballs, turning frequently, for 2–3 minutes, or until golden. To serve, toss the pesto through the remaining pasta in a large bowl, adding a little of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to moisten. Top with the tuna meatballs and serve.
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