This is a mash up of Amanda Hesser’s kids’ favorite Zuni's Pasta with Preserved Tuna and Martha Stewart’s recent Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Mozzarella, and Chickpeas; it’s basically a late summer kitchen sink pasta salad with tuna.
Ingredients
2 heirloom tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 Kirby cucumbers, cut lengthwise into thin spears, then into 1-inch segments
1 fennel bulb, sliced into then crescents
2 TBS red wine vinegar
12 ounces — 1 can— of olive oil packed tuna
2 TBS capers
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves
2 TBS of chopped parsley
8 ounces of radiatore, gemelli or fusilli pasta
Pecorino Romano cheese
First, chop tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and set aside and allow them to weep — I do this on the side of my cutting board, or in an empty prep bowl, or since you’ll be draining pasta you can also toss them in the colander
Second, chop cucumbers, fennel bulb, and pepper, place in serving bowl and drizzle with red wine vinegar and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt
Third, cook the pasta and saute the tuna: Bring salted water to a boil to cook your pasta per the instruction and while you are waiting for the water to come to a boil, add the garlic cloves, capers, red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon of parsley, and the entire can of tuna, including the olive oil to a non-stick skillet or cast iron
When the water begins to boil, add your pasta and turn the heat under the skillet to medium-low and saute the tuna the amount of time that the pasta needs to cook — my pasta needed 9 minutes anywhere in this range will work
Fourth, combine everything: Add the pasta, tuna, and drained tomatoes to the serving bowl and toss
Garnish with Pecorino Romano cheese, 1 tablespoon of parsley, and the juice of 1 lemon
Probably should serve four, but we were hungry and so it only served two.