Tuna pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and roasted peppers

Cooked at the Black Mountain wild camp, Bannau Brycheiniog. In the film from 12:02.

Penne with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes being stirred in a titanium pot on the grass, an orange collapsible cup beside it
Pasta back in the pot with the tomatoes, peppers and pesto. The tuna goes in last.

This is a starting point, not a record of exactly what I cooked that night. The method is the one I used. The quantities are a sensible guide for one hungry person with a small pot, and I didn't weigh anything on the hill. Change the amounts to suit your pot and your appetite, and swap ingredients for what you like or what's in the cupboard. I do.

  • 1Serves
  • ~5 minPrep
  • ~20 minCook
  • 1 potGas stove

Ingredients

A guide, not a shopping list.

  • About two handfuls of dried penne, or any short pasta
  • 4 or 5 sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, with a spoonful of their oil
  • 2 or 3 pieces of roasted pepper in olive oil
  • 1 heaped tbsp green basil pesto
  • 1 small tin or pouch of tuna in olive oil

There's no salt or seasoning in the list because it doesn't need any. The pesto, the tuna and the tomatoes bring plenty between them.

Adding sun-dried tomatoes and roasted peppers from a zip bag to a titanium pot, a small gas stove on foil beside it
Tomatoes and peppers, decanted into a zip bag at home, going into the empty pot.

Method

  1. Put the pasta in your larger pot with just enough water to cover it. Bring it to the boil, then turn the flame down and simmer until it's cooked, usually 10–12 minutes for penne. Stir now and then so it doesn't catch on the bottom.
  2. Drain the pasta and set it aside. I tip it into my large camping cup.
  3. Put the sun-dried tomatoes and peppers in the empty pot with a little of their oil. Warm them gently on a low flame for a couple of minutes to bring out the flavour and the oil. Snip or tear them smaller first if they're in big pieces.
  4. Stir in the pesto.
  5. Add the pasta back to the pot and stir it all through on a low flame for a minute or two, until every piece is coated and hot.
  6. Add the tuna in chunks and stir it in gently. It only needs warming, not cooking.
  7. Eat it from the pot.

Make it your own

  • Less gas: bring the pasta to the boil for a couple of minutes, put the lid on, turn the stove off and leave it for 10 minutes or so. It finishes in the heat of the water. Wrapping the pot in a spare layer helps on a cold night.
  • Faster: quick-cook or thin pasta cuts the simmer to 3–5 minutes.
  • No cup to drain into: make the sauce first in the pot, tip it into the cup or a bag, then cook the pasta. The order doesn't matter much.
  • Swaps: red pesto instead of green; olives or capers for a sharper finish; a handful of parmesan on top; mackerel or salmon in oil instead of tuna; drop the fish and add a tin of chickpeas for a vegetarian version.

Carrying it

This is cupboard food, which is the point of it, but read the labels. Jars of pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and peppers usually say to refrigerate once opened, and decanting them opens them. Decant them the morning you set off rather than days before, keep them in the coolest part of the pack, and cook them that night; single-portion pesto sachets avoid the question altogether. The tomatoes and peppers go in a small zip bag with a little of their oil rather than in glass jars, and the pasta in another. A tuna pouch is lighter than a tin, stays sealed until you use it, and flattens for the walk out. Empty packaging goes home in your rubbish bag, as with everything else.

Cooking the pasta in only as much water as it needs matters on this route. The Black Mountain's limestone is dry, and every litre at camp is one you carried up. When you drain it, scatter the water widely, well away from any stream.

I cooked this in the titanium pot from the kit list, on a small gas stove. Gas suits pasta: it holds a low simmer without boiling over, which is harder to manage on an alcohol burner.

Jim from behind, eating from a titanium mug while watching the sun set over the lowlands far below
Supper as the sun went down.

In the film

The cooking is in the Black Mountain film from 12:02. The walk, the route and the story of the Bronze Age cairns are on the route page, with a GPX download. For other meals, see all the recipes.

A home cook's recipe, not professional advice. Nothing here is sponsored.