Pasta With Marinated Tomatoes and Summer Herbs
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus marinating
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- About 1½ pounds ripe tomatoes, halved or quartered if small, diced if large
- Salt
- 2cans olive oil-packed tuna or 1 pound mozzarella cheese, diced (optional)
- ⅔cup pitted oil-cured black olives, halved, or ½ cup pitted green olives, chopped, or 3 tablespoons capers (optional)
- ⅔cup chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, mint, chives, cilantro, scallion tops, or a combination), more for garnish
- Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
- About ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2pounds short pasta, like fusilli, farfalle or penne
- Hot red pepper flakes (optional)
- ½cup toasted pine nuts (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
777 calories; 33 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 19 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 92 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 30 grams protein; 692 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Up to 4 hours before serving, put tomatoes in a large bowl and sprinkle all over with salt. Set aside for 30 minutes, then drain off liquid.
- Step 2
Add tuna and its oil, olives or capers, if using. Add herbs and zest. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and stir gently, flaking tuna into pieces. Cover and set aside at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Step 3
Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water. Drain very well. Combine tomatoes and pasta well, then taste and add more oil, salt and pepper to taste. Add red pepper flakes if desired. Sprinkle with pine nuts, if using, and chopped herbs. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Rohn Jay Miller
Here's a trick with mozzarella in this recipe: Dice into 1/2" cubes, then freeze in freezer for 10 mins. *Then* add at the end to freshly boiled pasta. The mozzarella won't turn into stringy "taffy," but will blend well with tomatoes, pasta, herbs, etc.
Marty J
There is a lot of flavor in the tomato water - why discard? The hot pasta will absorb a lot of the liquid as it cooks a little after straining.
David
This was delicious, however it calls for 2 lbs of pasta. I used a pound and it was great. 2 lbs would have hidden the delicious fresh ingredients. I used the pine nuts and pepper flakes. These were nice flavor boosters.
Anne
Have cooked this for years. Great summer dish and you can throw in whatever you want though fresh tomatoes and first grade olive oil are a must. Try it with thinly sliced radishes and fresh parsley. I always add grated parmesan to the mix which melts when adding the hot pasta.
lkp
Made with mozzarella (the small balls packed in oil with herbs), chopped green and Kalamata olives, capers, fresh basil, minced red onion, about half the amount of oil, about half the amount of pasta, Aleppo pepper flakes, and toasted chopped walnuts. Omitted lemon. Brought to a potluck where the main entrees were steak and sausage--delicious addition, and all was eaten. Love that the tomato mixture can be made well ahead of time, and only the pasta need be prepared at dinnertime.
Viapace
Or add the mozz right as you serve the pasta. Will soften without becoming stringy.
Daphne
Nothing forces anyone to cook this recipe, if it does not fit into one's dietary principles. This is a collection of recipes, not a "wellness" column.
Laura
I frequently do variations on this method. I would only do this with excellent tomatoes - they're the whole show - not substitute "store" tomatoes for kiddies or anyone else. I would not drain the tomatoes; assuming great summer tomatoes, which needn't be heirloom though that can be wonderful as well, the juices are scrumptious and contribute to the sauce. In fact, with more tomato liquid the use of olive oil can be more sparing - just enough to add flavor.
PJ
On the other hand, folks could try portion control.
Carajo
I'm not a fan of tomatoes and tuna, so I opted for the mozzarella. I used the mini balls of fresh Ciliegine that come packed in water, drained, and froze them briefly to add at the very end. This dish is also great served at cool room temperature.
Chris Raftery
Once I assembled the recipe the salt seemed to disappear. I took the advice of several readers. I did make the full recipe, that is 2#s of pasta. We went to a pot luck. I substituted shredded chicken for the tuna, chopped up basil, cilantro, kale and red chard, about 3 cups total, and added a chopped yellow pepper for crunch. I used 1/2 cup of olive oil, and because we love tomatoes sliced up two pounds of sliced large grape tomatoes. Finally I Parmesan and chopped Mozzarella. Yeow! Was it good!
Tamara
Lighten up. Not "ridiculously high" if one is consuming 2000 calories per day and keeping breakfast and lunch intake lower. Enjoy your dinner--and your life.
Flowergarden129
I loved this dish. I made it with whole wheat rotini (which I thought blended well with the flavors), used the tuna, used capers (out of oil-packed olives), and mixed equal parts of mint, cilantro, and scallion greens. I think this would be equally good making it with white beans in place of the pasta (and healthier). It was fabulous.
Mimi
This pasta salad is hardly the reason for the obesity epidemic. She's not advising us to guzzle soda or eat highly processed, pre-packaged foods. If the calorie count is too high for you, don't eat it. Simple as that.
susan
Dice mozz into 1/2" cubes, freeze 10 mins. Add to freshly boiled pasta. It won't turn stringy!//With small mozz balls packed in oil & herbs, chopped green & Kalamata olives, capers, fresh basil, minced red onion, half the oil, half the pasta, Aleppo pepper flakes, toasted chopped walnuts. No lemon.//Keep tomato liquid, use just enough olive oil for flavor.//I add chopped spinach, use half the pasta, 8 oz mozz balls, halved, half cup of oil, no lemon zest or hot pepper flakes.
annienell
This is awfully good. Thanks for all the suggestions. I used mozzarella and froze it, halved the pasta, saved the tomato water, cut the oil considerably, and I used both green olives and capers. I think I'd increase the olives and capers next time. We really liked it warm and the leftovers were great cold the next day. I've made the version Jane K references (I think it's a Silver Palate recipe?) This is lighter and I prefer it without garlic, which gets too strong if it sits overnight.
Sacha
I’ve been looking for a pasta salad I actually like. This was pretty good. Definitely do 1 lb of pasta. Two is WAY too much and all the yummy stuff would get lost. I like the flexibility of olives or capers or none. I went with capers to add salt but not the olive taste. Used mozz balls vs tuna. Scallion and parsley for the herbs. Not a big fan of zest so I skipped it. I might add in a bit of acid - lemon juice or vinegar - and maybe a bit of finely diced red onion next time. It’s going rotation
Jennifer O
I've been making this as written since it first appeared. Today I tweaked it after October issue of Food & Wine (F&W) had similar "Spanish" version that added 1 1/2 tablespoon sherry vinegar and olive oil to marinate the tomatoes (Step 1 in this recipe). F&W didn't drain the tomatoes. and why would you with the resulting tasty tomato "sauce" This will be my new version for this recipe.
Dan
Two pounds of pasta is way too much. I cooked a pound of penne but only wound up using 2/3 of it
Taos Chris
This was in a collection of salads, but is served hot.
Jane
I like the versatility of this recipe. It respects that the cook has some sensibilities and options, based upon what's available at the moment. I agree that only 1 pound of fusilli is the right proportion. I only used 1/2 cup olive oil. Going with the oil-packed tuna option, I added fresh chopped parsley and chives, black olives, pepper flakes, 2 cups arugula, and 1 cup grated Parmesan. I served it at room temperature, and used it as a cold pasta salad over greens the next day.
Raia
Delicious summer dinner! I’m glad I only cooked one lb of pasta because two would have been far too much for the other ingredients. I used extra basil and cilantro, mozzarella, and a few chopped anchovies instead of tuna. It turned out great! Next time I’ll add garlic and a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar. I served it with a green salad— perfect on a warm summer evening.
Jane Franchak
mix Kalamata and oil cured olives
sharon
Skip the pasta and use the ingredients as a tuna sandwich with a great Tuscan rustic loaf. Absolutely divine.
Hannah
This was delicious. I opted to include a nice canned tuna and capers. It was tasty fresh and warm for dinner, but honestly the cold leftovers for lunch the next day were even better.
DawnN
Delicious, this recipe will be on repeat. I had a heavy hand with the tomatoes (because summer why not) and used less than half the amount of pasta. I wanted it to be a tomato salad with some pasta, not the other way around. Used mozzarella because I had no tuna and less oil because of less pasta and it was amazing.
Liz
So good! used 1 lb pasta, that was plenty. Tasted it before serving, it was a little meh. So I added about a tbs of balsamic. took it up another level!
Christine Whittington
This Pasta con Salsa Cruda could not be a more perfect summer dish. I made it with mozzarella (cubed and chilled in freezer per one comment), capers (called "rat turds" in our house), and lots of herbs, but want to try it all of the other ways before the end of September. Instead of 2 pounds of short pasta, I used 9 ounces of fresh linguine because that was what I had. I kept the same quantities of all of the other ingredients, so it was very tomato-ey. I used basil, parsley, mint, and chives.
Elizabeth
Really delicious. Made with 7 oz pasta and half of everything else and served each portion with a handful of arugula. Plenty for our hungry family of 2 adults, the voracious 4 year old, and the baby.
Donald Green
This was delicious. I went with small cherry tomatoes (they were nice and sweet). I didn’t have access to real mozzarella, so I used reduced fat mozzarella sticks. I also went with capers because I didn’t have olives. But what made the dish was the fresh from the garden basil and parsley.
Private notes are only visible to you.
Advertisement
