Penne with Tuna and Tomato

Jamie Oliver didn't lie when he said this was a quick afternoon pasta. I put this together on a day when we were both working from home due to the notorious blizzard that hit Chicago. The blizzard of 2011 will be remembered for a very long time. Chicago is excellent in dealing with inches and inches of snow every year without the need of closure for school or work but the fact that Chicago became a ghost town after the blizzard showed the magnitude of this year's blizzard. And so there we were at home in front of our laptops at work. It wasn't very much a fun snowed-in day for T either as he spent the entire day on multiple conference calls for work from morning until the sun was starting to set. This dish was whipped up in no time. No fuss required. Before I knew it, we were eating away at our computers.

Good quality tuna is preferred for this pasta dish. The taste and flavor of this meal are light since there is no heavy sauce used here and therefore having good quality canned tuna is essential in bringing out the flavor of the pasta dish.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Jool's favorite Saturday afternoon pasta

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, peeled and diced
1 red bird's eye chilli
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed from sprigs
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
5 oz canned good-quality tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked
Salt
1/2 lb penne
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method
1. Heat olive oil in a pan and add in the onion, chilli, cinnamon, and thyme. Cook under medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the onions become soft.

2. Turn to high heat and add the tomatoes and tuna. Season with salt. Stir until well combined. Cover the pan and let simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salt water to boil and cook the penne until al dente. Drain the pasta and toss with the tomato and tuna sauce.

4. Dish into serving bowls and sprinkle a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese over the pasta.