Do you remember the Noli Pasta from Primi Piatti. Yes, from back in the day when there were very little halaal choices and we would do the things…

The Noli pasta had tuna and peas in a creamy tomato based sauce infused with a curry flavour. It was a sad day when they removed it from their menu and left us Muslims, who could not eat their meat and chicken options with even fewer choices than before. Thankfully a halaal Primi did eventually open in Kenilworth, but only after this dish was already off the menu. And sadly, that branch has also closed down. 

I recently had such a craving for this dish and decided to give it a bash re-creating it in my own kitchen. I used a recipe from @Aniseeds, for her spicy Recco Sauce, and adapted it for this recipe. If you’re up for some nostalgia or just love flavourful but simple pasta dishes, give this recipe a go. 

Noli Pasta Dupe with Recco Sauce

Ingredients

250g pasta of your choice
1 170g tin of Tuna
1/2 cup of frozen peas
1/2 small onion finely chopped
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tin of tomato and onion mix
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup of fresh cream
2 tsp Rajah curry powder hot or mild to your preference
1 green chilli slit in half
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 big handful of fresh dhanya (coriander) chopped

Method

Boil the pasta with 2 tsp salt till al denté in a large pot. Strain and add it back to the pot. Reserve about a cup of the pasta water. Cover the pasta to keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat about 2 or 3 Tbsp oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the onion and sauté till soft. Add garlic and saute till fragrant. Don’t let it brown.

Add Rajah curry powder and tomato paste and allow the paste to cook for a about a minute, stirring all the time. Add the tomato and onion mix, sugar and season with salt and generous cracked black pepper.

Allow this to cook and reduce for 20 to 30 minutes. Add a little bit of water at a time if it gets too dry. This allows the flavour to intensify and the sauce to become smoother. 

Add the cream and simmer for a minute. Add the tuna, peas and coriander. Reserve some coriander for serving. Heat through till the peas are just cooked. 

Add the sauce to the pasta and mix through. You can add a little bit of pasta water if it seems dry. A few spoonfuls may be enough. Serve with a sprinkle of coriander on top. 

Let me know in the comments if you’ll try this, and what you think if you did.