Tuna Macaroni

In the good old 80s, and thanks to the absence of cable tv, Pinoys had absolutely no knowledge how the Italians had their pasta - simple, often meatless, and prepared just before the meal with only a handful of quality ingredients. Or at least that was my impression. After all, with the mention of spaghetti, only one thing came to mind in those days - spaghetti noodles with a sweet Bolognese sauce (ground beef in tomato sauce). Baked macaroni likewise was Bolognese-based, had elbow-shaped pasta and was baked with tons of cheese, and apart from these three things was basically the same as spaghetti.

Pinoys were largely oblivious of pasta puttanesca as well as the seafood-based sauces. Hence, recipes like this tuna macaroni were largely a novelty, especially during Lent. I think it was a good way for manufacturers to advertise products, like tomato sauce and cream that can be used on Lenten seafood dishes apart from the usual caldereta and fruit salad, respectively. Why the mention of advertising? Because recipes like these usually come out as features on broadsheets the week before Lent. In fact, this one was from a newspaper clipping that my aunt pasted on her cooking diary. She used to make it for Lent. Everyone, even myself I suppose, loved it. Keep in mind, this was the time that tomato-based dishes, for them to be special had to have a touch of cream; and the cream-based pasta dishes had to have a hint of tomato. During the pre-Asian Food Channel/ Food Network, this was a really good. This is your typical back-of-the-carton Magnolia Cream or back-of-the-label Del Monte tomato sauce recipe.


My aunt, who by the way is a pious old maid, gave me a copy of this recipe in the hope that it would one day inspire me to be more religious as I would be eating fish instead of meat during Lent. So I took the recipe and inserted it on an old notebook and forgot about it for years. Fastforward 2008, this recipe fell off that old notebook as I was clearing away some of my things. I thought of making it, for old times' sakes, and because I thought that it required ingredients that needed to be disposed from the pantry. I updated the recipe, of course with other stuff from the pantry.

Tuna Macaroni
On a large saute pan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Saute one chopped large onion and one medium carrot until tender. Add in three cloves of chopped garlic and saute until you can smell the garlic.

Add in one can of drained sliced mushrooms, one cup sliced olives (green or balck, whichever you prefer) and two cups of canned (or leftover) tuna (salmon works well, too).

Pour in 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, one cup cream of mushroom soup and one cup milk. Simmer. Season with salt, pepper and one teaspoon fresh thyme, and a bunch of chopped basil. Turn off the heat and add in one cup of cream. Adjust seasonings.

Toss in one package of cooked macaroni (I used fusili). Arrange in ove-proof dishes and bake until top is browned.

The original recipe calls for two cups to cheese to be incorporated into the sauce, plus another cup for topping. I try not to blaspheme the Italians, so I did not bother adding cheese to my seafood. No one missed it.