Pasta with preserved tuna and pine nuts from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant (page 211) by Judy Rodgers

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute ziti pasta or ditali pasta for penne pasta. See recipe for variation.

  • crandall57 on October 25, 2023

    An excellent and easy pasta dish. I used tonino tuna fillets with oregano in olive oil and followed the directions for canned tuna. I cut the recipe in half for two people, but used the entire jar of tuna (minus the little bit I put on Winslow's food). I used capers and chopped preserved lemons. I put a tiny bit of finishing oil over the top before serving. Will make this again.

  • SheilaS on March 19, 2019

    I've made this before and loved it with oil-packed tuna belly but this was my first time making the tuna confit. I used the same seasonings that Judy calls for but packed the tuna into jars and used my immersion circulator to cook them for 90 min @ 45°C (113°F), following time/temp guidelines from Chef Steps. The tuna itself is decidedly more flavorful this way as it's had plenty of time to absorb all those flavors and I'm looking forward to using it in other ways. Also, you are rewarded for your earlier effort by not having to measure the seasonings out for the pasta. Once the tuna is prepped, this pasta dish comes together quickly and for something so easy, the flavors are remarkably complex - I love the preserved lemon here!

  • Rutabaga on September 21, 2017

    I had all the ingredients on hand for this dish except for tuna, so I made a vegetarian version using cannellini beans. To accentuate the briny flavors, I included both capers and green olives, and instead of adding oil and "sludge" from the tuna, I added oil and "sludge" from the jar of homemade preserved lemons. I also added three large cloves of thinly sliced garlic, which I sautéed in oil before adding the capers and olives. The salty, strong flavors the capers and olives and the citrusy funk of the preserved lemon were a great pairing with the simple beans. For the leftovers, I plan to buy some olive-oil packed tuna to add in. All in all, it's a very versatile and simple pantry pasta dish with lots of flavor. We topped the vegetarian version with grated Parmesan, which was delicious, but I'll probably forgo that after I add the tuna.

  • MmeFleiss on June 15, 2017

    We made this as part of dinner today using bottled tuna and it was really quick and delicious. Definitely a repeater.

  • clcorbi on February 11, 2017

    I made a half-recipe of this to feed two people, and used 1 can of tuna. I've been intrigued by this recipe for a while and, since I am always looking for ways to use my homemade preserved lemons, I knew I had to try it. I'm SO glad I did, because this recipe is so quick and delicious! The whole thing came together, start to finish, in less than a half-hour. The longest step is infusing the oil for 15 minutes, but you can prep the rest of the ingredients during that time. I wouldn't skimp on this step because the resulting oil was so flavorful. The only change I made was to use a bit less preserved lemon than called for, but the flavor still came through really nicely so I think this was the right call. I also added a bit of salt to the tuna mixture, which brightened it up nicely. Although not called for in the recipe, we did grate a bit of parmesan over our bowls, which was a nice touch. I will definitely make this again as an easy, pantry-focused weeknight dinner.

  • TrishaCP on July 10, 2016

    I made the canned tuna version on a night when I needed dinner to be pantry ingredients. It was good, but I think the optional preserved lemon, which I didn't use, is really needed for the extra brininess and saltiness it brings. I could have also used more fennel. I used two tins of Ortiz tuna, and next time I would just use the oil the fish is preserved in rather than adding any to the dish.

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