Pesto And Tuna Pasta Salad: An Easy Recipe

Easy to prepare and take on a picnic or to the office, pasta salad allows you to create a cold and balanced meal. You can come up with countless variations depending on the ingredients you have. The recipe for pesto and tuna pasta salad that I propose here highlights Italian flavors and seasonal products such as tomatoes and basil.

Ingredients

Here are the necessary ingredients to prepare a pesto and tuna pasta salad for 4 people:

320g fusilli pasta
4 heaping tablespoons of Genovese pesto
1 can of natural tuna
2 ripe tomatoes

Note: From this basic recipe, you can enhance your salad with other ingredients such as shaved Parmesan or Grana Padano, toasted pine nuts, and cooked vegetables like roasted bell pepper strips or lightly sautéed zucchini slices.

Pasta preparation

To make a pesto and tuna pasta salad, the first step is to prepare the pasta.

1- Prepare a large pot of salted boiling water.

2- Cook the fusilli for the time indicated on the package, keeping them slightly al dente so they are not too sticky.

3- Before draining the pasta, take out 2 to 3 ladles of cooking water.

4- Drain the fusilli and rinse them under cold water to cool them down.

5- In a bowl, mix the Genovese pesto with a few spoonfuls of pasta cooking water until you get a creamy mixture.

6- Add the fusilli and mix until the pasta is well coated with pesto. Set aside.

Preparation of ingredients

Once the pasta is cooked and seasoned, the preparation of the pesto and tuna pasta salad is very quick.

1- Wash the tomatoes and cut them into small cubes.

Note: You can also use cherry tomatoes and simply cut them in half.

2- Drain the natural tuna and crumble it with a fork.

Assembly of pasta salad

When all your ingredients are ready, all you have to do is assemble them in a large salad bowl.

Gently mix the pasta with pesto with diced tomatoes and flaked tuna in natural oil.

At this stage, you can add additional ingredients such as Parmesan shavings, rocket leaves, or pine nuts.

If necessary, you can also adjust the seasoning of your pesto and tuna pasta salad by adding fleur de sel, two turns of the pepper mill, and a drizzle of olive oil. But be careful not to oversalt as Genovese pesto and natural tuna already contain salt!

Tasting advice

Serve this pasta salad with fresh or room temperature pesto and tuna.

If you serve this appetizer on a plate, you can decorate each plate with a few fresh basil leaves. Enjoy your meal!