Years ago I used to travel to San Francisco quite regularly and almost always made a stop at Zuni Café. It’s a 40-year-old bistro mainstay that, I was happy to learn, has reopened post-pandemic. If you find yourself in SF make a detour to Zuni: it’s a bright, cheerful place although a little out of the way.
Now that the heat has settled in I made this (slightly adapted and simplified by me) Zuni recipe just last night. It originally came from Zuni’s own cookbook, of course they have at least one.
1 lb. penne pasta
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon zest in thin strips
1 bay leaf
Generous pinch of chili flakes
3 shaved garlic cloves
1/4 cup pine nuts (don’t you make your own pesto?)
2 tbsp. chopped capers. If you don’t like capers, add salt where I tell you.
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 cans of tuna in oil, which should give you at least 10 oz., but the way packaging has been shrinking recently…
This is really easy.
Start boiling some salted water for the penne.
In a small skillet pour in the olive oil and when it’s warm add the lemon zest, bay leaf, chili flakes, and the garlic. If you’re not using capers, add salt, maybe 1/2 tsp. Stir a couple of times over a low heat for 15 minutes. Add the pine nuts and capers, if using, and dump in the tuna. Separate the tuna into small chunks and don’t make mush out of it. Warm it for 3—5 minutes.
Bring the penne to al dente, drain well, and add the tuna mixture. Add the lemon juice and stir.
Simple and tasty! I think that capers “fancy up” any dish. I have a scallop recipe where they play a major role.
I do not mean to carp on Life Helpmeet’s very few flaws, but along with pineapples he is not a fan of capers. He will choke them down, but I am cognizant that they are not universally beloved. Judiciously deployed they are little salty flavor bombs.
I will have to hunt up this lasagne recipe hidden away God knows where that uses capers and it is very good. It is hidden away because I make it rarely. It has to be chilly outside, the Good Provider has to be usefully deployed elsewhere for work, and I need to have a gaggle over who appreciate a good caper.
Nope. Can’t deal with capers and never could. At some point Mrs. Butcher suggested we grow nasturtiums, which are an edible flower, to put on salads. I ate them, but I wasn’t fond of the flavor. Eventually, she lost her taste for them so I immediately stopped growing them. Last year I found out that capers are pickled nasturtium seeds which then made sense as to why I didn’t like the flowers either.
This would almost be the ideal meal for the lazy me and when I was a university student me, but for the lemon zest.
Are you telling I only have to boil water, heat a pan and open a can or two to make a decent meal? Wait, I have to zest a lemon!?! Fugettaboutit.
For this recipe they call it “zest” but what you really do is you slice the peel into thin strips, which is more time consuming. To zest a lemon you just grate it, like you would cheese. That. to me, is much easier.
i really want to eat this….but i cant cook it here….daughter dearest once had a bad experience with tuna (it called her fat) and will now not touch it
that said i have now largely landed on food is what it is and if you dont like it well fuck you go cook your own
far as i can tell at mo only spag bol and pizza are daughter approved foods
(spent 18 years making her not a fussy eater…and she reverts in just 1…kids are not worth the effort)