This 20-minute lemon tuna pasta with linguine, brown butter, and fresh mint is inspired by a dish I had in Sardinia.
I had a pasta dish in Sardinia last summer that I haven’t stopped thinking about: linguine, big chunks of tuna, tender cooked-down eggplant, lemon, lemon zest, butter, and — the part that threw me — mint. It’s not an herb I usually toss onto savory dishes, but it was SO GOOD! I’ve been recreating the lemon mint pasta combo at home ever since. It works with shrimp or chicken too!
Funny thing about pasta in Italy: it’s usually the primo, a course on its own, with protein saved for the secondo that comes after. So most of the pasta I ate that trip had zero meat or fish in it. This pasta in Sardinia broke that pattern, and it was the best dinner I had the whole trip.
The Original:
The recipe is not fancy, and it comes together in 20 minutes. Bright, with a little heat, a little unexpected. Perfect for a weeknight when it’s too hot to think hard about dinner. I love that it uses tinned fish, so it’s easily a pantry staple meal if you have a little mint in your garden (or neighbor’s garden!)
I make this with Fishwife’s Albacore Tuna with Spanish Lemon, and it’s basically the shortcut version of the dish I had overseas — the tuna already comes packed in olive oil with lemon juice, so half the flavor work is done before you open the tin.
Ingredients
- 12 oz linguine
- 1 small eggplant, diced
- 3 tins (3.2 oz each) Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Spanish Lemon, drained and broken into chunks (don’t shred it — you want real bites)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 lemons — zest of both, juice of half (taste before adding more; the tuna brings its own lemon)
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, torn or thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- Red pepper flakes, a pinch
- Flaky salt and black pepper
- Shaved pecorino, for serving
Instructions
Cook the Linguine
Cook the linguine in well-salted water until just shy of al dente — you’ll finish it in the pan. Scoop out a mug of pasta water before you drain.
Cook the Eggplant
While the water’s coming up to boil, heat the olive oil in a big skillet over medium heat. Add the diced eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply soft and starting to break down, 8–10 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt. You may need to add a little water during the cooking process. This will help it steam and break down.
Build the Butter Base
Push the eggplant to the side, and melt butter over medium-low heat with the garlic and red pepper flakes. Let it go soft and fragrant, maybe 2 minutes. You’re not browning it, just gently cooking.
Finish the Pasta in the Skillet
Add the drained linguine straight into the skillet along with a splash of the pasta water. Toss it over medium heat for a minute so it finishes cooking in that butter and eggplant.
Fold in the Tuna and Lemon
Off the heat, fold in the tuna chunks, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Go gentle here — you want big flakes of tuna intact.
Add the Mint and Serve
Scatter in the mint and toss once, just enough to wilt it slightly. Taste for salt, add a crack of black pepper, and serve immediately with pecorino.
Linguine with Tuna, Lemon Butter, and Mint
A 20-minute lemon tuna pasta with linguine, brown butter, and fresh mint — inspired by a dish I had in Sardinia.
Ingredients
- 12 oz linguine
- 1 small eggplant
- 3 tins 3.2 oz each Fishwife Albacore Tuna with Spanish Lemon, drained and broken into chunks
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 tbsp butter
- 2 lemons zested
- 1 lemon juiced (use half, then taste)
- 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves torn or thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- Flaky salt and black pepper to taste
- Shaved pecorino for serving
Instructions
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Cook the linguine in well-salted water until just shy of al dente. Reserve a mug of pasta water, then drain.
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Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply soft and starting to break down, 8–10 minutes. Season with salt.
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Add the butter, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the same skillet and let melt about 2 minutes, until soft and fragrant.
-
Add the drained linguine to the skillet with a splash of pasta water. Toss over medium heat for 1 minute to finish cooking and build a light sauce.
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Remove from heat and fold in the tuna, lemon zest, and lemon juice, keeping the tuna in big chunks. Add more pasta water if needed to loosen.
-
Scatter in the mint and toss once. Taste for salt, add black pepper, and serve immediately with shaved pecorino.
Notes
Use good olive-oil-packed tuna — Fishwife’s Albacore Tuna with Spanish Lemon is my go-to. If using plain olive-oil tuna, add the juice of a full lemon instead of half. Best eaten the day it’s made; the mint fades by day two. Optional veggie add-ins: halved cherry tomatoes (blistered in the butter before the pasta goes in), baby spinach (wilted in with the mint), or frozen peas (added in the last minute of cooking).
Recipe Notes
Tuna Brand
The tuna quality matters more than anything else in this recipe, and it’s why I keep a stack of Fishwife tins in the pantry. It’s pole-and-line caught, MSC-certified, and packed by hand in Spanish olive oil with fresh lemon juice — so you’re getting real, tender chunks of fish, not the flaky stuff from a store-brand can. The lemon tuna specifically was made for this dish. If you can’t find it, their plain olive-oil tuna works too — just add the juice of a full lemon instead of half.
Don’t skip the mint!
Don’t skip the mint, even if it feels like a strange choice on paper. It’s what makes this taste like a trip and not just another lemon pasta.
Don’t rush the eggplant
Don’t rush the eggplant. You want it properly soft and starting to collapse. Give it the full 8–10 minutes and resist the urge to stir it constantly.
Leftovers
Leftovers reheat fine with a splash of water and a little extra lemon juice to wake it back up, but this is really best eaten the day you make it — the mint loses its punch by day two.
Add some veggies!
I kept this recipe simple and true to the one I had, but you can of course toss in any vegetables you’d like to make it a bit more well rounded. Halved cherry tomatoes are my first pick — toss them into the butter for a minute before the pasta goes in so they blister and get juicy, and that acidity plays really well with the lemon. Baby spinach works too — a couple handfuls tossed in with the mint at the end wilts down in seconds. Another recommendation is frozen peas, added straight from the freezer during the last minute the linguine is in the skillet — peas and mint are a classic pairing for a reason.
