Calamarate al tonno e olive

I made this for dinner last night, and while I thought it was delish – light and lemony with a nice crunch from the fried garlic – the kids turned up their noses a bit. They love olives and they love tuna and they love pasta, but somehow seeing it all together with those funny looking capers just didn’t seem right. They did eventually eat, and I thought the recipe was good enough to keep in the rotation. I have heard that it can take as many as 10+ exposures to a new food before children will start to accept it. It frustrates me to see food go uneaten, but in the long run I think it will benefit them if I keep trying.

300 grams calamarata pasta (if you can’t find calamarate try penne or rigatoni instead)
200 grams tuna in oil — drained
1 heaped tablespoon capers (preferably salted) — soaked in cold water for 10 minutes then drained
20 olives (green or black or a mixture of both) — stoned and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic —finely sliced
3 sprigs parsley —chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt
the zest of half a lemon — grated
1/2 glass dry white wine

Fry the garlic in the oil until it’s golden and crispy. Add the capers and fry for a further 15 seconds. Remove the garlic and capers from the oil using a slotted spoon and put to one side. Add the tuna to the pan, season with salt and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook for 4-5 minutes and then add the wine, olives and the lemon zest. Mix well and remove from the heat. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix well. Transfer to a warmed serving dish, sprinkle over the garlic, capers and parsley. Serve immediately.

Note: We ate the leftovers for lunch today, and it was actually really nice cold!