Yesterday I suffered from another migraine and didn’t sleep well. To make things worse, the kids had swimming lessons and we were out of quite a few essentials which meant a trip to the store.  Finding time to relax at home was definitely out of the question. So by the time I got back, I wasn’t looking forward to preparing dinner. A quick look into the cupboards and I decided fried macaroni with my last can of tuna will be the answer.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

3 - 4 cups macaroni
1 can of tuna in water
1 small can of button mushrooms (whole)
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes
1 onion - chopped
ground black pepper and salt - to taste
5 tbsp oil
6 springs of parsley - chopped
1 egg - lightly beaten

Ingredients for grinding:
1/2 onion
3 dried chili - soaked and seeds removed
4 garlic

Method:

1. In a pot boil some water with about a tablespoon of oil and some salt, boil the macaroni til al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Drain and mash the tuna. Season with pepper.
3. In a pot, pour oil and fry the chopped onions until it turns translucent.
4. Add the ground ingredients and fry for about 3 minutes or until fragrant.
5. Add the tuna and stir to mix completely. Fry for 2 minutes.
6. Add the diced tomatoes, button mushrooms and salt. Fry for another 3-4 minutes. It should be bubbling quite vigorously and should be quite thick in consistency.
7. Push the contents in the pot to the side, pour the beaten egg in the cleared portion of the pot and fry. Stir constantly until thick and creamy.
8. Mix the egg together with the rest of the contents in the pot.
9. Taste and add pepper and salt if necessary.
10. Add the chopped parsley. Stir.
11. Add the macaroni. Stir to mix completely.
12. Serve hot with sliced lemon/lime.

Tips:

• If you want to prepare the macaroni earlier, remember to drizzle olive oil over the boiled macaroni. Stir it to make sure that it is evenly coated with the oil. This will prevent it from sticking to each other.