From the Vault: Tuscan-Style Grilled Tuna, Pasta with Arugula and Tomatoes

[Before there was TheFoodventure.com, I posted some blog posts about the Foodventures of Frank and I on my personal blog, including the following Foodventure, which was originally posted on August 3, 2008.]

Nearly every weekend, my boyfriend Frank and I experiment with different recipes we find (mostly online). During these “Foodventures,” as we’ve taken to calling them, I learn so much and, partially because I got a new camera, I’ve decided to start a series of posts about said experiments.

(Full disclosure: My parents own an Italian restaurant in St. Louis, Mo., and I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m not a very good cook. But, perhaps that’s relative. I have friends who think cooking means defrosting a pizza. Anyway, let me say now that Frank does most of the cooking and I do most of the…assisting, observing and wine-opening. But I digress…)

Most of the recipes that Frank and I use come from Serious Eats, our favorite food blog, and tonight was no exception. I first read about this pasta with arugula (my favorite among the lettuce varieties) and tomatoes there last week–and when it came time to decide what to cook tonight, there was no hesitation in my mind. Frank wanted to pair it with “something fishy,” and we agreed we needed a thicker fish for the event. At the store, tuna looked great, so tuna it was. We found a very straightforward, very fresh recipe for grilled Tuscan-style tuna on the Food Network website, courtesy of Rachel Ray.

Without further adieu, here’s the photo essay of tonight’s Foodventure:

Here’s a picture of the beautiful raw tuna with the parsley, garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper blend. Unfortunately, the grocery store was out of fresh rosemary, so we had to go without. It did leave something to be desired, but certainly didn’t ruin the dish.

One of my jobs was to cut the cherry tomatoes. This is my pseudo-artsy shot of my handiwork.

Gotta have the computer set up in the kitchen, with two tabs open for each of the two recipes.

Mmm… The tuna looked gorgeous on the grill. And the fire was perfect.

Tomatoes, garlic and red pepper… These are a few of my favorite things.

There was a strange move in this recipe which really threw me off at first: we put the arugula into the boiling water with the pasta while the pasta was still cooking. Revolutionary!

Grilled to perfection.

We combined the pasta and now-cooked arugula with the sauteed tomatoes and added a wee bit of grated parmesan.

Here we have the finished products. I couldn’t quite finish both medallions of tuna, but all in all, the foodventure was a success.

I’m going on vacation next week, so the next post or two in the Foodventure series will likely take place in Colorado and/or Florida. Stay tuned!

Related posts:

1. Welcome to the Foodventure!
2. Recommitting and Picadillo Photo-blogging!