Fusilli with cherry tomatoes and fresh tuna

The only somewhat laborious part of this dish is cutting the tomatoes in half, but if you don’t, the sauce won’t cling to them and they’ll burst in your mouth in a way that dilutes the vinaigrette. Be sure to buy olives that have been already pitted. The tuna is used raw, but it is partially cooked by the heat of the pasta. When shopping, be sure to tell your fishmonger that you’ll be serving the tuna a little on the raw side.

Ingredients

• 4 cups baby arugula (optional)

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes

• Salt

• 1 pound fusilli (spirals)

• 2/3 cup pitted black olives, not out of a can

• 1 pound fresh tuna, cut into 1/2-inch dice

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 3 tablespoons wine vinegar

Directions
1 Wash the arugula and spin dry. Chop very coarsely. Halve the cherry tomatoes.

2 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fusilli and cook according to the package directions, until soft, with the slightest resistance to the tooth.

3 Drain in a colander.

4 Transfer the pasta to a bowl. Add the tomatoes, olives, tuna, olive oil, and vinegar. Toss. Serve hot or cold—let cool at room temperature and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Makes 4 main-course servings.

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Excerpted from Kitchen Simple by James Peterson Copyright © 2011 by James Peterson. Excerpted by permission of Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
 

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