Angel Hair Pasta with Sautéed Cherry Tomatoes, Lemon and Tuna

By The Daily Dish

Photo: Scott Phillips

Put ripe cherry tomatoes to good use and make an easy fresh tomato sauce to top angel hair pasta.

This dish comes together so quickly and is so fresh tasting that it’s likely to become one of your weeknight standards. Begin by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. While the water boils, sauté fresh cherry or grape tomatoes, using a mix of colors like red, orange and yellow will look nice, until their juices run and start to thicken. Add some garlic, sauté briefly and remove the pan from the heat. Stir in drained canned light tuna (an imported brand would taste especially good), lemon juice and zest, capers, and some minced pepperoncini peppers — these are hot pickled peppers also known as Tuscan peppers, and they will give the pasta quite a zing. Keep the sauce warm while you cook the pasta. Arrange the pasta in individual serving bowls and top with the sauce, and some chopped parsley. Accompany the pasta with some warm garlic bread, a salad of mixed greens, and a hearty Chianti wine.
Ingredients

Kosher salt
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups cherry or grape tomatoes (about 1-1/2 lb.; a mix of colors, if possible)
1 large clove garlic, minced
One 6-oz. can light tuna in oil, drained and separated into chunks
2 Tbs. minced jarred pepperoncini (about 4 medium peppers, stemmed and seeded)
1 Tbs. lightly chopped capers
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. cold unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. packed, finely grated lemon zest
8 oz. dried angel hair pasta
3 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, in an 11- to 12-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the tomatoes (be careful because the oil and juice can spatter) and cook until they begin to collapse and their juices run and start to thicken, 6 to 10 min. (If you have big, stubborn tomatoes, you may need to crush them a bit with a spatula or pierce them with a knife.) Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the tuna, pepperoncini, capers, lemon juice, butter, and lemon zest. Season the sauce to taste with salt and keep it warm while you cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta in the boiling water according to package directions. Drain well, arrange in individual pasta bowls, and top with the sauce and the parsley.

Serves three to four

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Susie Middleton is editor at large for Fine Cooking magazine and the author of veggie cookbooks Fast, Fresh & Green and The Fresh & Green Table.

Follow her on Twitter at @sixburnersue