TUNA PASTA WITH DRIED SHRIMP

Ingredients: 

1 garlic head, minced 

1 white onion, minced

1 180g can of tuna in oil

salt,sugar, and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp coconut oil

Kinchay, chopped

1 ice cube of calamansi extract

500 grams of cooked pasta 

Instructions: 

How to cook the pasta noodles (fresh/ dried)

Fill a big pot with water and bring to a boil. Add salt generously (2-3 tbsp.), then add dried or fresh pasta. Stir to keep the pasta from sticking together. Let it boil again and cook for 1 minute less than the package directions. Please note: Fresh pasta cooks faster (2-3 minutes). Check for doneness. You have two options here. 

1. Strain (reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water to be used later) and cool briefly, but do not rinse. Rinsing washes away the starch that helps the sauce to stick to the pasta. Drizzle with Olive oil and mix until combined, then add to the cooked sauce.

2. No need to strain. Just use a kitchen tong to transfer the pasta noodles (pasta water dripped into the sauce as you do this, so you just need to add maybe a few tablespoons of pasta water) to the saucepan directly. 

Drizzle with olive oil, then mix to combine. 

At this point, the pasta may look a bit watery. You need to trust the process.  

Cooking the sauce:

Heat oil, then sauté garlic and onion for about 1-2 minutes. Add canned tuna, dried shrimp, chopped kinchay, and 1 ice cube of calamansi extract. Mix until well combined, then cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked pasta. Mix to combine, then season with salt, sugar, and ground black pepper. Mix again, then cover the pasta and turn off the stove. Let it rest while the noodles continue to cook and absorb the sauce. Then serve. 

Note: Pasta sauce should be the one waiting for the pasta noodles, not the other way around.