Red pepper, tuna and miso pasta

It’s been that kind of winter.

Just before Christmas, all the excessive food consumed was ok because we were “leading up to Christmas” and it was getting nippy. During Christmas, well, duh. And after Christmas how could you justify throwing out perfectly good brandy cream, cheese, smoked salmon, booze, and an unopened Christmas pudding which will last until 2023 but they’ll come out with some gorgeous new flavour next year and you just kind of “have” to be done with this one? Plus surely it would have been rude not to go through all the foie gras and biscuits we got from aunty H, and then buy some more online because we just discovered this amazing new French website that delivers. And the prosciutto. One must never forget about the prosciutto.

One didn’t. But then one suddenly found one’s wardrobe reduced to two pairs of trousers and both of them were elasticated jeggings.

Listen, jeggings are amazing, we need more of them and frankly why not just bulk buy some extra pairs and continue to pretend it’s Christmas? That is what I should have told myself in the first place. Instead, in typical extreme fashion, I shunned carbs, dairy, all forms of sugar and with it all manner of fun and sanity. I lasted a week.

Absolutely foaming at the mouth for a mountain of bread and pasta in between layers of potatoes _ that sounds disgusting but trust me, I was that deprived _ I reached for what I actually had lying around the house as the weekly shop wasn’t for another two days. What I came up with not only hit the carb spot, which at this stage was less like a spot and more like a giant ocean of all of mankind’s cravings, but was also surprisingly healthy, supremely tasty and quick to make. This Red Pepper, Tuna and Miso Pasta is really a grown up take on that perennial student favourite, the tuna pasta, and it’s perfect for a midweek supper when there is very little lying about. Plus, unlike the student version, it throws a umami flavour dart right through your palate.

Ingredients:

Half a pack of spaghetti

1 large tin of tuna in olive oil

2 large cloves of garlic chopped

1 sweet pointed red pepper

1 tablespoon of miso paste

Half a bunch of coriander chopped

2 tablespoons of Yutaka Tamari soy sauce – seriously, don’t use any other soy sauce. This is that good.

A glug of red wine

Preparation:

Heat a glug of olive oil and saute the chopped red pepper until it starts to soften. Add the chopped garlic and saute until you can smell the aroma. Take care not to let the garlic burn. Add the red wine and let it cook until it evaporates. Add the miso paste, soya sauce and two or three tablespoons of water to dissolve the miso. Bring the temperature down and add the chopped coriander.

In a separate pot bring water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Once the pasta is cooked drain it, adding a little bit of the cooking water to the red pepper mixture if it feels a bit dry. Add the pasta and the tuna and toss through carefully, removing from the heat.

Place in a large bowl, sprinkle some more fresh coriander on top and add a squeeze of lime juice. Don’t bother with plates unless you’re sharing (BORING). Ideally take it with you to the couch, and stick on Netflix. Or, in the parent world equivalent, take it with you and hide behind the kitchen door hoping and praying no one needs a nappy change.