Tuna Steaks Over Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

My mother and all of my in-laws are Italian, so cooking Italian is my default mode. When I cook up something that turns out really good, I like to write it down and publish it so I can find it later. (And share it!)

Last night, I took out a frozen Ahi Tuna steak from Trader Joe's. It had a recipe for pesto butter on the package. I had all the ingredients on hand but I didn't feel like making the paste. Plus, I had a ton of tomatoes from my garden that just all ripened at the same time after the drought ended. I had to use them up.

I took the tuna out of the freezer and put it in the sink to thaw in luke-warm water, and went to deliver a newsletter to a neighbor.  Walking home from from her house, I invented this recipe in my head and then cooked it when I walked in the door. Wow, it was great!

Tuna Steaks Over Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

One pound of tuna steaks
10 ripe tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
3 T butter
4 T olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
juice of one lemon
big handful of fresh basil
big handful of fresh parsley
salt and pepper
one pound of pasta (I used ziti)

Start by marinating the tuna steaks in olive oil with salt and pepper. Then boil water for the pasta. When the water boils, cook the pasta according to directions on the box/bag.
While those are doing their thing, prep the other ingredients, because they go in the pan in pretty quick order. Peel and chop the garlic; cut the tomatoes in chunks; juice the lemon; rinse and chop the basil and parsley.

In a large saute pan, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the pine nuts and garlic. Stir until both are just starting to turn color and release their aroma. Don't let them get brown. Then toss in the tomatoes.  Cook until they lose their firmness. Add half the lemon juice, the basil and parsley, and the salt and pepper. Cook another couple minutes until the flavors mingle.

By now the pasta should be cooked. Drain it, put it in a big bowl, and pour the tomato sauce over it, toss it to coat the pasta so it doesn't get sticky. Cover and keep warm.

Now for the tuna:
Keeping a little of the tomato drippings in the pan, add the olive oil from the marinating tuna steaks. On medium heat, sear the tuna, 2 or 3 minutes per side. Remove tuna to a plate. Add the rest of the lemon juice to the pan and stir for a few seconds to make a bit of flavor drippings. Drizzle that over the tuna on the plate.

To plate it up, serve the pasta in shallow soup or pasta bowls. Cut the tuna in bite sized chunks. Place the tuna chunks on top of the pasta and serve.

This should serve 4 people. It's a quick and flexible recipe. If you love garlic, add more. Same with all the other ingredients. Taste and adjust as you go. The whole preparation time should be the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. I started with frozen tuna in a vacuum pack, so I put the package in sink with luke-warm water. Then I took a walk. It was ready to use when I got back.

Cory's Old World Native Garden

I guess I could call my new blog "Cory's Non-Native Garden", since I'm leaving my four-year old Virginia native wildlife garden behind to follow my husband to his new job in Rome. "Capitolo Italiano" means "Italian Chapter," and that's what this blog is about. During the last four years in Virginia, I've learned so much about native plants and their benefits during this last stay in Our Nation's Capitol, and I hope to continue learning and sharing about the global benefits of native plants even after I get established in Rome this fall. I don't know where I'll be living in Rome yet, but I hope there will at least be a balcony with space for a few container plants.  I expect I'll be visiting gardens around Rome and Italy, and I'll take photos to post here.

So here's the new blog, same as the old blog "Cory's Native Garden" , only this time the setting will be in Rome, Italy. I'll be learning the native flora and fauna, and their critical interactions, but from the Mediterranean perspective.

But first, I'll use this spot as therapy for myself, a place to unload the stress and turmoil of moving a household to another continent (every 2.6 years!). Such is the life of a diplomat's wife.

Oh, and there will be photos and recipes!