bits and pieces

Continuing to work my way through the book Noodles in 60 Ways: Great Recipe Ideas With a Classic Ingredient, I decided to go with one that was even easier than the last one.

For dinner tonight, I made Linguine with Tuna and Tomato Salsa, with the only cooking being the prepration of the linguine. The rest of the ingredients became a salsa and topping for the pasta, and it only took a bit of chopping and mixing everything to get that together.

The ingredients are very simple, including cherry tomatoes (I had to use sugar plum grape tomatoes, since that’s what I was able to find at Whole Foods), red onion, fresh herbs (basil and parsley, the latter of which I left out), olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. And then tuna from a can, which they suggest having separately. You mix up the salsa, flake the tuna, and then put it all together with the pasta.

Everything came together nicely, though I’d definitely recommend mixing everything up together a bit more than I did. I sort of just plopped it on top of the linguine, which was pretty to look at, but then I ended up with patches of plain pasta.

I think I’d make this one again, since it’s pretty easy, though it seems more like a spring or summer dish than fall or winter one. The recipe also suggests using tuna and dill instead of tuna and basil as an alternative, and that sounds pretty good.

Here’s a close-up of the salsa on its own, since the colors are so nice, and then the recipe following:

Linguine with Tuna and Tomato Salsa
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 13 1/2 oz linguine
• 9 oz canned tuna, flaked into chunks
• Salsa
• 9 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 5 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 5 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• Salt, to taste
• Ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Prepare salsa. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Add linguine and cook until al dente. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
3. Add tuna flakes and salsa to pasta and mix well. Serve warm or at room temperature.