Tagliatelle, tuna and spinach

This dish was devised with a more robust spinach in mind. It’s grown in the garden as ‘perpetual’, or sold in markets in bundles tied by their long sturdy stalks. One supermarket defines a suitable type as ‘chunky chopped full flavour spinach for cooking’. If you can only get the delicate type precook the spinach until just wilted, drain and chop then add to the sauce at the very end of cooking. Otherwise, I cook my spinach in the sauce. This takes a little leap of faith as it seems rather counter intuitive. But persevere, just make sure you have enough liquid left in the sauce to steam and cook the spinach. The spinach is the star of the dish, so don’t overcook or or hold back on quantity.

1. Boil the pasta water. Use a large pan and fill with 2l-3l of water, add a large pinch of salt and put on a high heat. Prepare the vegetables and sauce whilst the water comes to a boil. Simmer slowly until ready to use.
2. Prepare the spinach and herbs. Wash the spinach and remove the stalks. (These can be discarded, but I chopped and fried them in oil and butter for 5 minutes and then blitzed in a processor and added to my sauce toward the end of cooking.) Shake off as much of the water from the spinach leaves as possible, chop roughly and set aside in a colander and drain well. Wash and dry the herbs and set aside.
3. Make the sauce. Using a large non-stick pan or wok (with lid) on a medium-high heat, fry the shallot, garlic and chilli in a tablespoon of olive oil until sweated. Add the anchovies and cook until dissolved. Add the splash of wine if using and let it bubble for a minute. Then add the stock and bring to a simmer. Let this cook gently for about 10 minutes – it will then need about another 5 minutes to finish the sauce as in step 5 below. The sauce and pasta should be finished at the same time, so overlap the cooking of each.
4. Cook the pasta.  Cook until al dente – follow guidelines on the packet. Whilst the pasta is cooking, start to finish the sauce. When the pasta is cooked, drain retaining a cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Providing the pasta is al dente, it will keep in the pan for several minutes if the sauce is not ready. Keep it moistened with the pasta cooking liquid.
5. Finish the ‘sauce’. Turn the heat up on the sauce and add the tuna. Break it up gently. (The tuna is added at the end – we want to distinguish and taste the actual tuna rather than turning it into fish seasoning.) Add the butter and then add the spinach and put on the lid for a minute. (NB: butter helps soften the chemical reaction of spinach in the mouth.) Take off the lid and stir gently and cook until it is wilted, using the lid again if necessary. My preference is to under-cook the spinach, if a softer texture is desired continue cooking (but please don’t overcook). Meanwhile, chop the herbs finely. When the spinach is cooked to your liking, add the herbs and tagliatelle, tossing and turning the pasta to combine and warm through. Season with the lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste. If the pasta is too dry, use some of the retained pasta cooking liquid to moisten.