Foodbank Fayre: Recipes from Foodbank Parcels : Big Tuna Pasta Bake

As well as providing Big Food for Big Families, part of my passion for campaigning is to address the problem of lack of cookery skills we are seeing in society today. Cooking skills simply are not being passed on or taught at home or in school. Many people for example who are in need of a food parcel from a Foodbank, may, for a variety of reasons, not have the skills necessary to prepare and cook meals from the parcel provided.

Many people may not have had real cooking experience in the heart of their family, some may have left local authority care and have no one to show them how to cook. Many schools have either stopped Home Economics as a lesson in the curriculum and I know from my own sons experience that Home Economics GCSE is quite heavily theory based with less emphasis on practical skills.

To try and redress this balance I have taken the Trussell Trust Foodbank shopping list which comprises food enough for 3 days and have tried to come up with some very basic recipes. Obviously those in families will be given higher quantities than single people so I will put single quantities in brackets. Also where the TT have put tinned meat/ fish and tinned vegetables I have selected a tin from the supermarket value ranges that may have been donated to a Foodbank. The tins vary from stewing beef to chicken in a white wine sauce, from tuna to sardines, and tinned veg from peas to sweet corn. Obviously people in receipt of a parcel have to work with whatever is in there, but I will come up with a few variations. Here is the list of ingredients on the shopping list I have to work with:

Big Tuna Pasta Bake (will feed 6)

Ingredients

1 cup of Pasta Shells or Pasta twirls like Fusilli per person x 6 if feeding 6
2 Tins of Tuna (1 tin if for 1 person)
1 large or 2 small tins of sweet corn (1 small tin for 1 person)
1 large or 2 small tins peas (1 small tin for 1 person)
1 Jar of Pasta Sauce Tuna Bake (a half jar will do for 1 person)

Optional

Instant Mash
Tinned Tomatoes
(Please read the tip at the end of the method for older children/big appetites)

Method

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees centigrade or Gas Mark 4.

Put a large saucepan of water onto the hob/stove and bring to boil.

When the water is bubbling, measure out a generous cup of pasta per person and tip into the saucepan (6 cups to feed 6 people - 1 cup to feed 1 person)

Cook the pasta for about 15-20 minutes until it softens. Some people like the pasta softer than others, but do not overboil as the pasta will become soft and soggy. When cooked remove the pasta from the heat and drain, either with a colander if you have one or if not put the saucepan lid on and leave a small gap and drain off water.

Add the jar or half jar of Tuna pasta sauce and open up your tins of sweet corn and peas. Make sure you drain the juice from the sweet corn and the peas first. Add the veg to the pasta. Go back to the hob/stove on a low heat setting and slowly stir in the pasta sauce for 2-3 minutes then remove the entire saucepan from the heat.

Open your tin(s) of tuna and spoon them into an oven proof dish/ casserole dish.

Pour over your saucepan of pasta, veg and sauce, making sure you smooth it out around the dish evenly.
Put the dish in the oven for 15-20 minutes but keep checking. Once the sauce in the dish is bubbling or the top is a golden brown, the Tuna Pasta Bake is finished.

Remove from oven and carefully spoon onto plates

Tip: This is a nourishing meal. However you maybe catering for older teenagers with large appetites. You may think of bulking this out with a portion of the instant mash per person (see packet for quantities and method) and perhaps adding the tinned tomatoes too. If a pudding is required, why not use the tinned rice pudding which can be heated up quickly in a saucepan or in the microwave and add a spoonful of jam on top in each serving bowl.