WHB: Penne With Tuna, Pine Nuts, And Mint

This week, Weekend Herb Blogging has returned home to Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen.  And to celebrate this, I've happy to feature one of the best dishes I've eaten in months.  When you find yourself making little noises of appreciation as you eat something, you know you hit pay dirt.   I'm rather spartan with my eating lately, so I'm hungrier than usual. That may factor into it. But, I think the rapture I felt eating this is mostly due to the incredible  flavor.  And yes, you read the title right. This is tuna and mint.  Mint.  Some of you may be put off by that, but I beg you to to remember that mint is often used in savory dishes. The combination of mint, fish sauce and ginger makes Vietnamese and Thai food sing.  In the Mid-East, mint is often served with lamb.  And who can forget the classic British combination of mint sauce and lamb?  Actually, I prefer mint added to savory dishes than sweet recipes.  It's cool flavor is perfect with salty, sour, and hot ingredients.  It's interesting to remember that the mint family includes basil, rosemary, sage, oregano, and catnip.  All herbs that taste great in savory dishes

This particular dish comes from Sicily, where it's usually prepared with swordfish. I substituted tuna because the swordfish looked a bit dicey.  This is a simple recipe, but the combination of the garlic, olive oil, pine nuts, and mint is simply heaven.   It's easy and quick to prepare, and the only problem  is eating a reasonable serving, which is my aim nowadays.  Dishes like this make that very hard for me.   But, I had a modest portion--and my taste buds wanted  more.

This recipe goes so quickly, I wasn't able to take pictures as I cooked it.  You can do most of the preparation as you boil the water for the penne.  Take care when you brown the pine nuts, as they burn very easily.  If you prefer you could use walnuts instead.  If you use tuna, don't cook it as long as the swordfish. It really does taste better if it's rare in the middle. I used ahi tuna and it had no fish odor at all.  It was juicy and silky soft.  And yes, Upsie got her share of it.

Don't forget to stop Kalyn's site to see all the herby bloggers this weekend.

Penne With Tuna, Pine Nuts, and Mint            (Adapted from Food & Wine)

1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Ahi tuna (or swordfish steak, about 1 inch thick)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
3/4 pound penne

DIRECTIONS

    1.    In a small frying pan, toast the pine nuts over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown, from 2-5 minutes. Or toast them in a 350° oven for 5 to 10 minutes.  Be careful they burn easily.

    2.    In a large nonstick frying pan, heat the 1/2 tablespoon oil over moderate heat. Sprinkle the tuna with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Add the fish to the pan and cook around 2 minutes. Turn and cook until the fish is still pink in the middle--another 2 minutes or so. The fish will continue cooking after you remove it, so be careful not to over-cook it. Remove. When the fish is cool enough to handle, cut it into 1-inch cubes.  Note:  Cook the swordfish a few minutes longer.

    3.    Wipe out the pan. Add the remaining 1/4 cup oil to the pan and heat over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in 1/4 cup of the mint and remove the pan from the heat.

    4.    In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the penne until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain and toss with the swordfish, the garlic-and-mint oil, the pine nuts, the remaining 1/4 cup mint, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Comments

[FEATHERHEAD]

Sounds interesting. But where does one get pine-nuts?

[Susan from Food "Blogga"]

Sher, I'm so relieved! I'm not the only one who makes little noises of appreciation when I'm eating something I really like.:)This is a lovely recipe and photo.

P.S. In case you didn't know, when you left your last comment, the link to your profile didn't have your webpage. You might want to add it so people can get to your great site right away. :)

[Tanna]

This looks delightful. Yes, I like the mint in many savory dishes. Your use here looks perfect.

[Kalyn]

I like everything about this.
Especially the thought of you making appreciative noises as you eat it! Now if only my huge patch of mint wasn't covered in snow. Sigh. I keep reminding myself that summer will come before I know it.

You're right, the Dreamfields penne would be perfect here. I'm saving the recipe to del.icio.us right now.

[Linda, The Village Vegetable]

this looks amazingly flavor packed! i may have to try this with salmon for my boyfriend, we have some waiting in the freezer! and that muffins recipe is a must! i can't wait to try it. thanks for sharing!

[s'kat]

It looks like the tuna is cooked just right. I *love*love*love using mint in salad-type dishes.

[Kate]

Self control can be SO hard when faced with something delicious. I totally feel your pain. That dish does look wonderful! Did Upsie get any licks of tuna?

[Julie]

I'll bet that is wonderful. It certainly looks terrific.

I've never been a fan of mint in sweet dishes and I think it was only this past summer that I came to appreciate mint as an herb in savory dishes. I found a recipe for Sicilian pesto that used mint, almonds, tomatoes, garlic, and a little red pepper which was pick-your-head-up-in-surprise delicious. With other savory ingredients the mint takes on a different personality.

Like Kalyn I wish my (extensive -- ok, way too extensive) mint patch was not covered in snow. I'm keeping this on my list for when I have mint again this summer.

[Callipygia]

Sher- well I'm making those noises of appreciation staring at the screen. You cooked (and described- yum)the tuna perfectly. I agree with you it totally changes once it gets cooked through :(

[Jennifer]

You know, I have never had pine nuts before. Or real tuna. This looks GOOD though.

I'm dying to try real tuna...someday I will. (How sad is it that I have only had it out of a can! LOL!!!)

[Anh]

Sher, this looks wonderful. I will make it for a change from my weekly Penne with tuna, basil, lemon and capers. :D And I agree with you, it is hard to watch what you eat for something like this!

[Glenna]

Wow, it's really pretty. Sounds delicious!

[Kristen]

This looks like such a great meal... I'm sure it was delicious!

[aria]

MMMMM! sher, the bites of tuna just look so tender i can hardly stand it. i imagine how the toasty nuts and hint of mint would be so nice with thw pasta and fish. major yums :)

[Christine]

OH! MY! GOODNESS! This looks fantastic. The tuna looks perfectly done. All these flavors speak volumes to me. Well done girl!

[Lizz]

gorgeous!

[mahek]

hi
you have a great blog with some lovely pictures i am going to go thro your whole blog and write to you again.
thanks for sharing your life with us
bye
mahek

[Shannon]

Drool! And bookmark!

[sher]

Featherhead,

They should be in the nut section, but some stores put them in the big bins for bulk items. I'm often amazed at how stores seem to "hide" items from us! Pine nuts can be expensive, so you could substitute them with almonds or walnuts. :):)

Susan,

Thank you. Yes, I do hear myself making noises at times. And thank you so much for letting me know about my profile. I corrected it after I read your comment.

Tanna,

Thank you. This really is a wonderful taste. Strangely, the mint doesn't taste real "minty". It has a different character with the garlic and olive oil.

Kalyn,

Thank you. My mint is gone--for now! I do look forward to seeing it trying to take over my backyard. :):)

Linda,

Thank you. I think the salmon would taste great fixed this way. Hope you let me know how it turns out--and the muffins too. :):)

s'kat,

Thank you. It really was a wonderful dish. In fact, I found myself wanting it today. I had a few pieces of the tuna left and that garlic, mint oil on it was fantastic.

Kate,

Thank you. Oh yes, Upsie got a cube of the raw tuna. She came running as soon as I unwrapped it. It had no fishy odor, so this proves her sense of smell is much stronger than mine!

Julie,

Thank you. You are so right. Mint becomes totally different when it's combined with savory ingredients. I have used it a lot in Asian dishes, but I had never fixed it in this fashion and now I'm ga-ga over it! That Sicilian pesto sounds like heaven! Maybe you will blog that? By the way, I've had my eye on one of the "Best Recipes" you kindly compiled for us from newspapers. It's a chicken recipe with lots of mint and garlic!

Callipygia,

Thank you. One of the reasons I wasn't able to stick with a vegetarian diet was my intense love of seafood--especially tuna. Fine tuna is just heaven.

Jennifer,

Thank you. Pine nuts have such a unique taste and texture. They are sort of creamy in texture, to me at least. And I love good canned tuna from Italy and Sardinia. They pack it differently, and use higher grades too. I hope you have fresh tuna some day. I think you will be surprised. Just make sure to have it pink in the middle. I actually like it raw in the middle.

Anh,

Thank you. Penne with tuna, basil, lemon and capers is wonderful!!!!!! With a dish like that, you don't need many ingredients--those few are perfect!

Glenna,

Thank you. It was absolutely pretty delicious. :):)

Kristen,

Thank you. I wish I had some now!

Aria,

Thank you. I wonder how those flavors would work with octopus? :):)

Christine,

Thank you. Well, I just read your marvelous post on the crabs you cleaned! it had me drooling!

Lizz,

Thank you. Your Italian genes were probably reacting to the picture! :):)

Mahek

Thank you. I just looked at your blog and enjoyed looking at the pictures very much. Loved the pics of the sugar cane extractors! Thanks for coming to my blog!

Shannon,

Thanks for drooling! :):) I always appreciate that! Hee!

[gattina]

Sher, I can't agree you anymore! Mint is excellent in savory dish... last time I ordered clam pasta in Italy (luckily the menu didn't mentioned they using mint, as I would have changed my mind), the flavor was fantastic!!! I don't think no other herb could bring out that intriguing taste as or any herb) fan, there is really A LOT of crushed mint in your bowl, hehee. Beautiful pasta! I almost want to nib that tuna cube off of the screen!

[ann]

I discovered the tuna/mint harmony this summer when visiting a friend in vermont. she made basically this recipe, but with canned tuna and a wee bit of mayonnaise for all us hungry peeps, and, you're right, rapturous! utterly delicious! i had kinda written it off as a summer dish, but with the addition of real tuna, I bet I could make this for dinner tonight. Thanks Sher!

[Patricia Scarpin]

Hi, Sher!

This pasta dish looks absolutely divine - all the ingredients are wonderful!

I love savory recipes that call for nuts.

Oh, and thank you for the lovely comment on my blog, I really appreciate your visiting there!

[mandira]

This looks delicious Sher, I love the combination of salmon and mint. Never tried it before, now I will!

[Terry B]

For those out there not fond of mint [but you really should try it with this delicious sounding recipe--I think it would change your mind], you might try an equal amount of fresh basil instead. Also delicious.

[Lorraine]

This looks soooo delicious- and it might be perfect as one of our dishes for Valentine's dinner. Thanks!

[ejm]

This looks fabulous, Sher! I can't wait until mint starts coming up in the garden again. (I know it's only February but I'm starting to doubt that spring will ever arrive....)

-Elizabeth

[angie]

Mmmm....this certainly looks like a satisfying meal :)

[Sue (coffeepot)]

Wow I'm trying this with canned tuna tomorrow because that is all I have right now. I have everything else though.