my successful attempt to cook tuna carbonara

Last Friday, my cooking skills (ha!) were put to a test when hubby went to Abu Dhabi to attend the Adam’s Quest conference of CFC. Since this was a whole day activity and hubby would be arriving pretty late, I had to cook something for dinner (lunch was easy because there were still some leftovers that we just had to reheat). I didn’t want to just fry hotdogs or chicken nuggets, nor did I just want to open a can of corned beef and sauté it with onions, garlic and potatoes because Caila always has to eat with soup or something ma-sarsa (she doesn’t eat much when the food is dry). On the other hand, even though we had packs of pork, chicken, fish, and beef in the freezer, I didn’t know how they should be sliced and what ingredients were needed (and if we had those ingredients in the kitchen). So, preparing pasta was the only other safe choice I had. The recipe seemed pretty easy to make and didn’t take too much time, so since I had all of the ingredients available, I decided to try it...and it was a success! Really! Here's why...

My first guinea pig was Caila (who is actually a really picky eater). She bravely let me feed her the first spoonful, and to my surprise, she finished it in 1 minute and asked to hold the bowl and spoon so that she could eat herself. And she willingly finished the entire bowl without making any fuss! Yaaaaay!!! Then the following morning, she preferred to have the leftovers of this for breakfast instead of pancakes!

My second guinea pig was Ate Cel. She also found it good and delicious because “hindi nakaka-umay” unlike ordinary carbonara that has bacon bits.

My third guinea pig was Hubby. Actually, he wasn’t able to try it that night because he already passed by a fast-food restaurant before leaving Abu Dhabi after the conference, and Caila finished the rest the next morning. But yesterday after work, since there wasn’t anything ready for lunch, I prepared it again. When he sat down to his first bite, he gave me the two thumbs up sign. Hurray!

I’m so happy! Slowly but surely, I’m getting the hang of cooking...err, at least I can prepare food that hubby and my daughter can willingly put into their mouths and digest. Hehehe.

Just in case you’re wondering, here’s how I made it:
I used a 500g pack of spaghetti noodles, olive oil, half an onion finely chopped, one grated garlic, a can of tuna chunks in water (drained), a 250ml pack of all-purpose cream, grated cheddar cheese (1/4 of the pack), and a cube of Boursin cheese.
First, I cooked the noodles according to the package instructions (which needed water, cooking oil and salt). After it was done, I rinsed it under warm tap water, then set it aside.
In the same casserole where I cooked the noodles (I wiped it dry from water first), I heated a tablespoon of olive oil, then sautéed the onion and garlic, then added the tuna chunks.
After around 3 minutes, I added the all-purpose cream, grated cheddar cheese and Boursin cheese. Then I just mixed everything together, stirring constantly for about 5 more minutes.
After that, I mixed in the noodles into the sauce, and...VOILA! the Tuna Carbonara was done!
Of course, you can use other noodles (like fettuccine or tagliatelle) for this as well, you can add water to the sauce if you don’t want it too thick, and you can add salt and/or pepper according to your taste.

Easy right? There was nothing to it. Even I was surprised that a recipe so simple tasted so good. And that from someone who has absolutely no cooking skills!