Fusilli Alla Sorrentina(Sorrento-Style Fusil

A Sorrento-style pasta that turns pantry staples into a bright, summery dinner. Canned tuna in olive oil gets crumbled by hand into a quick sauce of sauteed garlic, fresh tomatoes, black olives, and white wine, then tossed with fusilli and finished with fresh mint.

The mint is what makes this distinctly Sorrentina. Most Italian tuna pastas lean on basil or parsley, but fresh mint leaves stirred in at the end give this a cool, herbal lift that cuts through the richness of the olive oil and tuna. It’s unexpected and completely addictive.

Use tuna packed in olive oil, not water. The oil from the can carries flavor and helps the sauce coat the pasta. When you crumble the tuna by hand instead of mashing it with a fork, you get irregular chunks that hold their texture in the sauce rather than dissolving into a paste.

Cook the sauce for just 10 to 15 minutes after the tomatoes and wine go in. This is a fresh, light sauce, not a slow-simmered ragu. The tomatoes should still have some shape and brightness.

Chef Tips

• Cook the fusilli al dente. It finishes cooking slightly when tossed in the hot sauce, and mushy pasta won’t hold the sauce properly.
• Halve the olives so they distribute evenly through the dish. Whole olives roll off the fork.
• Don’t cook the mint. Stir it in right at the end with the salt and pepper. Heat kills its fragrance.
• Use ripe, in-season tomatoes for the best results. Out-of-season tomatoes are mealy and bland in a sauce this simple.

Variations

• Add a pinch of red pepper flakes with the garlic for a spicy kick.
• Swap fusilli for penne or orecchiette, both of which catch sauce in their curves and hollows.
• Toss in a handful of capers with the olives for extra brine and punch.