Tuna Niçoise Pasta Salad!

Why have I never thought of this before???? 

I make Salade Nicoise often, with green beans, potatoes, tuna and olives, it's one of my favorite summer salads.

Here, I swapped pasta in for the potatoes to make a perfect summer party dish.

I used special Ventresca Tuna that brought back from Portugal.   Ventresca is the belly of the tuna, rich and fattier, no mayo is ever needed.   I love it.

Here is how I made it:

Tuna Nicoise Pasta Salad:

1/2 lb. penne pasta

1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut in half

cherry tomatoes, halved

kalamata or nicoise olives

good quality tuna (preferably Ventresca)

half red onion, sliced thin

Dressing:

2 cloves garlic

fresh basil leaves

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp wine vinegar

1/4 cup of olive oil

sea salt & pepper

Cook the pasta (I used penne) in salted water and drain. 

Boil the green beans until al dente in salted water for about 5 minutes.

Drain and add them to a bowl with the tuna, tomatoes, red onion and olives.

Make the dressing (can you believe I didn't add anchovies?....but you can!).

Season liberally with sea salt & pepper and taste to adjust seasonings.

Garnish with plenty of fresh basil.

Can be made a few hours ahead and better left out on the counter and served at room temperature.  

Hope you are having a great summer!

Enjoy.

xo