Pasta w/ Tuna and Sun Dried Tomatoes

adapted from Michele Urvater's Monday to Friday Cookbook

My wife left Michele Urvater's Monday to Friday Cookbook on the kitchen table opened to this recipe before she left for work. Unfortunately I didn't see it until about an hour before she was scheduled to arrive home. So I hustled around the kitchen to see what ingredients I needed and in less than an hour turned out a delicious pasta dish. This one is easy and takes very little prep. I made a few changes from Michele Urvater's original recipe only because I didn't have all the ingredients but the results were fine.

The recipe called for 2 - 7 ounce cans of tuna packed in water but I substituted them with some frozen Ahi tuna that I recently purchased at Costco. Now of course you can use canned tuna fish or some other firm fish like fresh or frozen swordfish , but I just happen to have some frozen tuna in my freezer. Also my panty was out of black olive paste but there was a jar of black calamata olives that needed to be pitted and chopped. 

The next night we followed Michele's suggestion and served the leftovers as pasta salad. All I did was add a can of tuna fish, some canned corn that we were serving with my daughter's dinner, and a balsamic vinaigrette. Served over some mixed greens, another quick and easy recipe.

Pasta w/ Tuna and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Serves 4

• 1 large onion
• 4 carrots
• 1/4 cup of oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup (tightly packed) fresh parsley
• 1 lb. pasta, elbow, penne, or fusilli
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 small fillets of Ahi tuna
• 10-14 calamata olives
• 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• Salt & Pepper to taste

• Peel and thinly slice the onion.
• Peel and cut the carrots into 1/4 inch slices.
• Drain and cut the sun-dried tomatoes julienne style.
• Mince the parsley
• Cut the tuna into bite size pieces
• Pit & chop the olives

1. Start by bringing a large pot of water to boil for cooking the pasta. (see my tips on cooking pasta here)
2. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and sauté the onion and carrots for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, cover, lower heat and simmer until the carrots and onions are tender. Approximately 5 -8 more minutes.
4. Add the pepper flakes and chopped olives, turn up the heat to medium high again and add the tuna. 
5. Cook for a few minutes until the tuna is cooked to the way you like it. Note: some people like their tuna cooked through, some like it rare in the middle. Up to you. Remove the pan from heat.
6. Add the parsley to the sauce and season with salt and pepper.
7. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and reserve.

To serve, warm up your serving bowls in the oven or microwave, add some pasta, and top with sauce. If you have any extra chopped parsley, you can sprinkle a little on top for appearances.

Enjoy. RG