FETTUCCINE WITH TUNA PUTTANESCA

In the same spirit of the last blog, using what’s on hand to concoct a dinner, I had some tidbits of my Sesame Seared Tuna in the freezer. I imagined that I would make a Puttanesca sauce with canned San Marzano plum tomatoes. That dish has always been a favorite of mine since discovering it in Italy.

I still had some mountain grown fresh tomatoes from last week’s trip to Highlands, NC and they were at their peak ripeness…meaning they need to be used. While fresh tomatoes paired beautifully with shrimp in the Greek Baked Shrimp with Feta—the sweetness in the tomato plus the sweetness of the shrimp is pure perfection—I was worried that a fresh tomato might not stand up to the boldness of the tuna.

Here is The Diehl Dish: I want my readers to take some joy in experimenting. You know what…if it turns out to “turn you off”…the cat or the dog might like it, or as we used the commercial at our house “Feed it to Mikey, he will eat anything”!

I dropped the tomato in boiling water until the peel blistered (about 3-5 minutes); cooled and chopped it. After peeling, dicing one onion, I sauteed it in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until translucent. Add tomatoes to the onion and cook on medium heat until most of the water has been rendered from the tomato. Next the fun part, what will help this sauce to become bold? Don’t be afraid to google recipes and develop your own. I started with a dash of Worcestershire Sauce, a splash of red wine, 2 tablespoons of capers, 4 garlic cloves minced, a dash of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste (olives in you like). There was something missing and that something was anchovies! Luckily I keep a couple of cans in stock at all times and that was exactly the ingredient that made the sauce “Zing”!

Serve over spaghetti, linguine, or fettuccine or whatever is in the pantry. Sprinkle with basil and mint and “Voila” you have HOME STYLE PUTTANESCA!

*This sauce can be used with other proteins, but I particularly like it with tuna. Canned tuna is fine and a dab of tomato paste would add another layer of flavor. Notice I did not sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. I have been told that Italians rarely combine cheese and seafood. Enjoy!