Tuna Fusilli

You’re certainly familiar with spaghetti and macaroni. Although they look different, they are members of the same family of food : the Italian pasta. They come in various shapes and sized and are served with different kind sauce. Pasta is tasty and relatively easy to make, you can whip it out at home yourself. This is recipe for you to try.

What to prepare :

-150 grams (4 teacup) Fusilli or other kinds of short pasta like penne or macaroni

-150 grams fresh marlin or tuna fillet/ chunks (canned tuna chunks work, too)

-5 medium-sized tomatoes

-1 cup cherry tomatoes (optional)

- Half a can tomato paste

- 1 slice of lemon or lime

-4 spoonfuls Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) or good old looking oil.

-6 cloves garlic

-6 cloves shallot

-1medium-sized onion

-1 cup champignon mushroom

-1bell pepper

-Salt and pepper

-Basil ( or the Indonesian substitute: lemon basil, locally known as kemangi)

What to do :

1.       Put tuna/ marlin into a frying pan, squeeze the lemon over it, and add a little water. Add some salt and make sure all the tuna chunks are marinated in the lemon and salt water. Cook on low heat until the water evaporates. Then dice the fish.

2.       Dice the tomatoes and bell pepper, quarter the champignon, chop the garlic and shallots, and slice the onions.

3.       Sauce the garlic and shallot with EVOO. Cooking oil is fine, but EVOO gives a different  flavor  to the dish. Add the onion slices a little later and let them cook until golden brown.

4.       Next, put in the diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook on medium heat until the tomatoes become soft and juicy (put the lid on the pan to make them cook faster).  Stir and squash the tomato chunks until you have a thick sauce.

5.       In the mean time, boil some water in a pan. When the water comes to a boil, add the fusilli and a teaspoon of salt. Stir the pasta and let it cook for about eight minutes. Pasta should be cooked ‘ al dente’ ,enough. Drain the pasta in a colander and add some/ EVOO / Margarine to keep the pasta from sticking to each other.

6.       Back to the sauce : Add the fish, champignon, bell pepper and salt and pepper. Mix well and let it simmer for three minutes.

7.       Lower the heat and add the pasta to the sauce. Add a pinch of basil (chopped kemangi makes a very nice substitute) and mix well.

That’s it! Piece of cake, right? Serve the pasta on a plate with parmesan cheese on top. Some would argue that cheese is not appropriate for seafood pasta, but hey if you like it hot, you can add some chilli sauce to the dish, and you’re to go.