Penne With Grilled Tuna And Crisp Fried Capers Food

FETTUCCINE WITH TUNA, LEMON & FRIED CAPERS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
• Using a zester tool (called a channel knife), zest the lemon into thin strips, or, using a vegetable peeler, shave off the zest, then slice into very thin strips. Juice the lemon to get 2 Tbs. juice.
• Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a 10-inch straight-sided sauté pan over medium heat. Add the capers and cook until they start to brown and get crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and cook until it starts to crisp and curl up, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the capers and lemon zest to a plate lined with a paper towel-it's fine if a few capers remain in the pan.
• Reduce the heat to medium low, add the garlic to the remaining oil in the pan and cook, stirring, until it browns lightly but doesn't burn, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tuna and red pepper flakes and cook until the tuna just heats through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine in the boiling salted water, stirring often, until it's just tender to the tooth (see the package for cooking time). Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
• Return the sauté pan to medium heat. Add the drained pasta, 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water, 2 Tbs. of the lemon juice, and the remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil. Cook, tossing and stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes to blend the flavors. If the pasta isn't tender, add the remaining cooking water and continue to cook and stir until done. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice.
• Serve immediately, drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled with the capers, lemon strips, parsley, and a few grinds of black pepper.

LINGUINE WITH GRILLED TUNA, CAPERS AND PARSLEY

Steps:

• Light a grill and preheat for at least 10 minutes or preheat a grill pan. Arrange the grill so half cooks over high heat and the other half can cook over moderately low heat. Meanwhile, soak 1 small bamboo skewer for 10 minutes.
• Thread the garlic cloves onto skewer. Brush both sides of the leek and the tuna with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Rub the tuna with the rosemary.
• Oil the grill grates, then grill the leek cut side down and the tuna over high heat until grill marks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the tuna and leek and move to the cooler part of the grill. Cook until the tuna is just slightly pink within and the leek is tender, about 8 minutes for the tuna and 15 minutes for the leek. Transfer to a work surface and let cool slightly.
• Grill the garlic on the skewer over high heat, turning a few times, until blistered and slightly softened, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the outer layer of the leek and discard; thinly slice the leek crosswise, discarding any pieces that are tough, and transfer to a large bowl. Peel the garlic and finely chop. Flake the tuna and add the garlic and tuna to the leek.
• Meanwhile, cook the linguine until al dente; drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the hot pasta, parsley, capers, lemon juice and the 1/4 cup of olive oil to the bowl and toss. Add the cooking water, little by little, if necessary, to loosen the sauce. Season with salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, then serve immediately.

PENNE WITH GRILLED TUNA AND CRISP- FRIED CAPERS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the capers and butter and bring to a simmer; the pan should be big enough so the capers can move around and fry freely, which will take 10-12 minutes (they should be golden brown and crispy when they are finished).
• Drain off remaining butter and put the capers on a paper towel to drain.
• While the capers are cooking, thread the tuna chunks on skewers, brush with the vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
• Place the skewers on the grill over a medium-hot fire and cook for 3-4 minutes per side (to check for doneness cut into one of the chunks--it should be pink but not red in the center).
• Remove from grill and let cool until they are cool enough to slide off the skewers.
• In the meantime, bring 4 quarts of salted water to boil in a large pot over high heat; add the pasta, return to boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, until pasta is tender but not mushy.
• Drain and place in a large bowl.
• Add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, grilled tuna and salt and pepper to taste; add capers, toss well, and serve.

PENNE WITH SPICED TUNA SAUCE

Steps:

• Boil pasta until al dente. Saute onions in olive oil for 5 minutes or until translucent. Add hot pepper, anchovies and whisk in until anchovies dissolve into a paste. Add peppers and celery and saute for 5 minutes or until tender but still somewhat crunchy. Stir in capers and tuna and cook just to warm the tuna through. Season to taste with salt; remove hot pepper; add black pepper if you wish. Drain pasta and return to pasta pot; add sauce and toss; transfer to serving bowl & garnish with parsley.

PENNE WITH TUNA AND RED ONION

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions; drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Return pasta to pot.
• Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until onion is very tender and starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Add half-and-half and if using, anchovies; raise heat to high, and boil 2 minutes.
• Pour mixture over pasta. Add tuna, parsley, capers, and reserved pasta water; toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.

TUNA, LEMON, AND CAPER SAUCE

Steps:

• Place tuna in pasta serving bowl and break it into large bite-size pieces. Add garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and capers and stir gently to combine. Set aside to warm to room temperature, or preferably, place the bowl (be sure it's heatproof) over the pasta pot to warm the ingredients while heating the water. Once the water comes to a boil, remove bowl and set aside.
• Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain pasta well and immediately add to sauce in bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and toss. Serve at once with Parmesan cheese. Pass the pepper mill.
• Recommended pasta: 8 ounces penne rigate, medium shells (conchiglie rigate), rigatoni, or linguine.

PENNE WITH FRIED SARDINES, CAPERS AND PARSLEY

Steps:

• Bring a kettle of salted water to a boil.
• Cook pasta until al dente and drain well in a colander.
• In a bowl toss together pasta, parsley, onion, capers, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Drizzle mixture with lemon juice and olive oil and toss to combine.
• In a 9- to 10-inch heavy deep skillet heat 1/2 inch vegetable oil over high heat until hot but not smoking and gently lower half of sardines with a slotted spoon into oil.
• Fry sardines until crisp and golden, about 1 minute, and transfer with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• Fry and drain remaining sardines in same manner.
• Add sardines to pasta and toss to combine.

SPAGHETTI WITH TUNA AND CAPERS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add tuna with oil, capers, and crushed red pepper flakes; heat through.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water for 1 minute less than the package instructs, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water.
• Add the cooked pasta to the pan and mix to combine. Add some of the pasta water and toss lightly until the pasta is tender yet firm to the bite, 1 to 2 more minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately.

GRILLED TUNA WITH GINGER-SESAME SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the sauce. Stir-fry the scallions, ginger and garlic in the sesame oil for one to two minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and pour the sauce into a small bowl. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, preheat the grill. Sprinkle the tuna fish with olive oil on both sides and season with salt and liberal grindings of pepper. Grill the fish for two to three minutes on each side for rare, longer if you wish it more well-done. Serve with the sauce on the side.