Foodie Weekend - Tuna, Pine Nuts and Capers Stuffed Pasta Al-Forno

Earlier this week, I had an evening meeting with Blogger's In The City and had to prepare lunch and a quick uncomplicated dinner for Captain and the boys before leaving.  So, I cooked Kampung Fried Rice for lunch and for dinner a dish of oven pasta with tuna, pine nuts and capers. As a habit, I posted the pictures of these dishes on my personal Facebook page and I was asked by many friends and relatives alike for the recipe of the pasta dish.  I actually planned to post another recipe today but on popular demand, I share here today the simple easy recipe of Tuna, Pine Nuts and Capers Stuffed Pasta al-Forno

Pasta al-forno or translated to direct English, baked pasta has many variation. You can have it with meat, vegetable or in my case tuna.  The possibility is endless actually.  It is perfect for this situation of mine whereby I needed to prepare the dish to be eaten later, as I could assemble it earlier and it can be put in the oven whenever needed.  This way, Captain and the boys could enjoy fresh hot dinner even when Mama is away.  Now, this recipe calls for the giant conchiglie (shell pasta) or pipe rigate but if you couldn't find any of these, don't worry as there is another way to substitute for this dish.  Watch out for tips note later!

Ingredients (serves 4)

Stuffing

2 cans of tuna in water or oil (as you prefer)

500 grams of giant conchiglie or pipe rigate

1 large onion, chunk diced

5 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1-2 fresh red chilies, chooped (optional)

1/2 cup of spring onion, roughly chopped

2 tbsp of pine nuts

1 tbsp of capers

1 cup of canned chopped tomatoes

Salt, Pepper

Sauce

1 1/2 can of chopped tomatoes

1 clove garlic

Extra Vigin Olive Oil

Salt, Pepper, Sugar

1 tsp of dry oregano 

1/4 cups of chopped parsley

Topping

1 cup of shredded cheddar or emmental cheese 

Generous amount of shredded mozzarella cheese

Some parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Method

Sauce

Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a pan

Add in crushed garlic, be careful not to burn it

Add in chopped tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper and a bit of sugar

Stir until boiling

Add in chopped parsley

Set aside

Pasta

Boiled pasta in a salted hot boiling water.  Now, beware of the cooking time. The pasta should be cooked 3 minutes less than the normal cooking time written on the bag.

Drain water and sprinkle some oil over. Roughly toss around.

Stuffing

In another pan, heat extra virgin olive oil

Add in chopped onion, chilies and garlic, cook until fragrance.

Add in pine nuts and cook until onion soften

Add in drained tuna and chopped tomatoes, mix well.

Then add capers, spring onion, pepper, salt

Set aside to cool.

Assembling

Using a little butter, grease the bottom and sides of  a large casserole 

Stuffed the pasta with the stuffing one by one and arrange them side by side.

Once the whole casserole is filled, sprinkle the emmental or cheddar cheese over. 

Next, pour the sauce over and generously sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top.

Finally sprinkle some parmesan and ready to go in the oven whenever needed.

Baking

Bake the pasta covered, in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30-40 minutes or 

until the cheese melted.

If you prefer the crusty top, bake the last 10 minutes uncovered.

Tips

If you are not able to find the giant pasta, use the normal ones like penne or rigatoni.  Instead of stuffing the pasta, mix the pasta with the stuffing and spread it over the casserole followed by the sauce and so on.  The result will be more like single layer lasagna instead but the taste is equally good!