Jools' Saturday afternoon pasta

I was always going to end up cooking this tuna pasta dish because it reminded me so strongly of one of my student dinner staples, the dish I used to make when I had run out of money or had nothing in the fridge. And although now I eat so much better than I did then (sometimes then I did without dinner as such and had rounds of Marmite on toast and cups of tea, and then the kind of red wine that glues itself to your throat), I do occasionally, usually when feeling premenstrual, tired or grumpy, have a nostalgic urge for the kinds of food that I used to eat. In other words, I still occasionally eat tuna and pasta. So when I saw this recipe, at first I wondered why Jamie had written a recipe for a meal any student could knock up in an instant. And then I realized that it isn't just tuna, pasta, onions and tomatoes, as it was in my repertoire (sometimes with handfuls of frozen peas or sweetcorn tossed in; sometimes with sliced courgette - courgettes being pleasingly cheap) - it has cinnamon, lemon juice and zest, and chillies in, as well as jarred tuna in olive oil (as opposed to tinned tuna in spring water) and plum tomatoes.

I am pleased to report that it was very easy indeed but equally delicious. I can see it coming out again when I am feeling nostalgic, even just to remind me that I have moved on...