Tuna and Cherry Tomato Pasta with Capers and Olives
A bright Italian-style pasta where tuna, blistered cherry tomatoes, capers and olives come together in a glossy sauce built on starchy cooking water. Savory, briny and ready in under twenty minutes.
- Total
- 17 min
- Prep 5 · Cook 12
- Serves
- 1
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Emulsifying · Cooking al dente
- Savory
- Quick
- Italian
- Stovetop
- Oven
Instructions
-
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add 1 tsp salt. Add the 100 g pasta and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes or according to the package directions. Before draining, scoop out and reserve 120 ml of the starchy cooking water.
~9 min
Salting the water seasons the pasta from within, and starchy water later helps the sauce cling.
Cooking al dente Cook until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite; check early and taste a piece to avoid mushy pasta.
-
While step 1 cooks
While the pasta cooks, halve the 150 g cherry tomatoes and slice the 30 g olives. Drain the 80 g tuna and flake it into large pieces.
~4 min
-
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook until they soften and release their juices, about 4 minutes.
~4 min
Blistering the tomatoes over medium-high heat concentrates their sweetness and builds a juicy base for the sauce.
-
Stir the sliced olives and 1 tbsp capers into the pan and cook for 1 minute to warm them through. Add the flaked tuna and a pinch of black pepper, then remove the pan from the heat so the tuna stays tender.
~1 min
Adding tuna off the heat keeps it tender and prevents it from turning dry and stringy.
Add the tuna only at the end and keep it in large flakes. Stirring it hard or cooking it longer makes it stringy and dry.
-
Drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the tuna and tomatoes. Pour in the reserved 120 ml starchy cooking water and toss over low heat for 1 minute until the sauce turns glossy and coats every strand.
~1 min
Starchy water emulsifies with the oil and tomato juices, creating a glossy sauce that coats every strand.
The starchy cooking water is what makes the sauce cling: add it a splash at a time and toss off the heat so the emulsion stays silky instead of breaking.
Emulsifying Toss off the heat and add starchy water a splash at a time; the sauce should look glossy and cling, not greasy or broken.
-
Taste and adjust the salt if needed, then serve immediately while hot.
~1 min