Creamy Tomato Tuna Pasta Bake (One Pan, High Protein)

Creamy Tomato Tuna Pasta Bake (One Pan, High Protein)

This Creamy Tomato Tuna Pasta Bake recipe is perfect for busy days! Just throw pasta, onions, peppers, garlic, oregano, passata, tuna, cream cheese, basil and cheddar into one pan, then let the oven do all the hard work. Better still, it’s high in protein, surprisingly low in calories and ideal for meal prep.

Course Main Course

Cuisine British, Fusion, Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Servings people

Calories 477kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

400 g passata
300 ml water
100 g cream cheese (full fat or low fat - I used low fat in the nutrition calculation)
200 g pasta (I recommend fusilli)
1 medium onion finely diced into ½cm x ½cm pieces
1 red pepper diced into 1cm x 1cm pieces
1 yellow pepper diced into 1cm x 1cm pieces
3 cloves garlic grated or crushed
2 teaspoons oregano
Salt and black pepper (to taste)
300 g tinned tuna drained weight (See Note 1)
10 g fresh basil leaves chopped, plus extra for garnish (optional)
100 g cheddar cheese grated

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F.
Place the passata, cream cheese and water in a large roasting dish and stir until everything is well mixed together. (See Note 2.)
Place the pasta, onions, peppers, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and tuna into the roasting dish.
Use a large spoon to lightly break up the tuna and mix everything together, then ensure that the contents of the roasting dish are evenly spread out. (See Note 3.)
Cover the dish with foil and place it in your preheated oven for 30 minutes. (See Note 4.)
After the 30 minutes is up, remove the roasting tin from the oven and double check the pasta is cooked to your liking. (It should be done a little less than your preference, as it will have 10 more minutes in the oven.)
Add the chopped basil and give the whole dish a good stir, then spread it all out evenly again.
Sprinkle over the cheddar cheese.
Place the roasting dish back in the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes, uncovered.
Serve at the table, accompanied by a simple side salad.

Notes

If you buy your tinned tuna in brine or spring water, this will probably be about 3 x 145g tins. In any case, the label should state the drained weight.
At first it may seem a little hard to get the cream cheese to blend into the sauce, but just keep squashing it down and it will quickly blend in to give you a lovely creamy tomatoey sauce that works so well with the tuna!
The dish I use is 31cm x 25cm x 5cm, so that is the size I recommend. But this dish is fairly flexible – you can use a slightly smaller or larger dish and it will be just fine.
Cooking time will of course depend on the specific brand/shape of pasta you use and your personal preferences. I use Tesco Fusilli and this comes out cooked all the way through, but not too soft. If you like your pasta less cooked, reduce the main cooking time by 5 minutes. If you like your pasta very soft, increase the main cooking time by 5 minutes.
Suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition