Half way through my cooking I suddenly realized that the vendor forgot to put fresh dill in my grocery bag. This dish wouldn't be complete without a touch of any herbal note, so I started searching the fridge to see if there's any leftover herbs, let it be parsley or chives, both will do.
Guess what? Of course there weren't any left in my fridge. I tend to use up all the ingredients I bought whenever possible every time I cook. And I got scared of growing my own herbs here in Taiwan, too many bugs especially caterpillars always seemed to favor my plants for some reason.
Good thing is that I have plenty of dried herbs in the pantry to choose from, so I picked dried thyme instead. In fact, I'm quite happy with the result switching to dried thyme, giving this pasta dish a new set of aroma different from what I first imagined. A good and delightful twist in the end.
Paccheri with tuna in red bell pepper sauce -
Ingredients (about two portions)?
- 240 grams tuna
- 200 grams paccheri pasta
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- Few shallots
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 cup drinkable hot water
- Some olive oil
- Some salt
How?
Destem and remove the pits from the red bell pepper then give it a rough chop. Peel and rough chop the garlic clove and shallots. We will need about 1/4 cup of chopped shallots in the end.
If using fresh herb, give it a fine chop and set aside. Zest one lemon and save for later. Halve the lemon or slice into wedges so it'll be easier to squeeze out the juice shortly after.
Cube the tuna, I actually used sashimi grade tuna because that's the only chunky piece of tuna I can find in the market.
Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Add in chopped shallots and garlic, cook till aromatic.
There is no need to finely chop the shallots nor the garlic because we are going to blend them into a smooth paste after cooking.
Add the chopped red bell pepper to the pan and stir-fry for couple minutes. Pour in 1/2 cup of drinkable hot water and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Let it boil for a little bit.
Pour the whole thing to a food processor. Perhaps wait a few minutes for the temperature to drop a little. Then blend till it forms smooth sauce. You can also use hand held blender to finish the task.
Bring out a big pot and add in good amount of water to cook the pasta. Add few good pinches of salt to the water and bring to a boil. Add in the paccheri pasta and cook till al dente. I usually would cook the pasta till "almost" al dente, but the paccheri I used here has a tougher bite so cook a little longer should be fine. You can adjust the cooking time based on your ingredients and preference instead.
So back to the sauce, pour it to the pan and use medium heat to bring the temperature up again. When the pasta is done cooking, drain and transfer to the pan here. Toss and mix.
Add in diced tuna and give it a good toss.
Continue to cook for 30 seconds to about a minute. Add in the lemon zest and squeeze some lemon juice, about 1 tablespoon. Also mix in the herbs and give the pasta a few tosses again.
Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed. Otherwise drizzle about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and give it a few last tosses. Plate and serve.
If you can't get a hold of tuna, swordfish or mahi mahi are two good alternatives for this recipe.
Mister had it for dinner and thought the pasta was tomato based sauce just because of the red color. It's fun to see the surprise showing on his face when I told him there's no tomato involved.
Other pasta recipes:
- Zucchini and squash pasta with parsley and mint sauce
- Creamy mussels and seaweed pasta
- Vegetable and meatballs pasta bake
- Seafood gnocchi in roasted red bell pepper sauce
- Dairy-free chorizo and colorful bell pepper orzo
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