An Italian brunch wouldn’t be complete without a pasta dish. Campanelle pasta is named for the church bells it resembles, and the nooks and crannies are great for trapping sauce, making every bite delicious. If you can’t find campanelle, any small shaped pasta will do. There are lots of bold flavors in this pasta salad, the base of which is canned tuna. Although it’s definitely more caloric, tuna packed in olive oil rather than water gives the salad a much fuller, richer flavor.

　　

Ingredients

4 to 6 servings

　　1 pound campanelle pasta

　　1/2 cup olive oil

　　1 small red onion, chopped

　　2 garlic cloves, minced

　　1 (6-ounce) can Italian tuna in oil, such as Flott, drained

　　1 pint (2 cups) cherry tomatoes, halved

　　8 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and quartered

　　2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

　　2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves

　　1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

　　Salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　

Step 1

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water.

　　

Step 2

In a 14-inch skillet, heat 1/4 cup of the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, or until aromatic. Add the tuna to the skillet and, using a fork, break it into chunks. Add the cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, capers, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to soften, 8 to 10 minutes.

　　

Step 3

Add the pasta, the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil, and the parsley. Toss until all the ingredients are coated, adding a little pasta water, if needed, to thin out the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the pasta salad to a serving bowl and serve warm or at room temperature.

　　Giada at Home by Giada De Laurentiis. Copyright © 2010 by Giada De Laurentiis. Published by the Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Giada De Laurentiis is the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian and Behind the Bash. She attended the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and then worked in a variety of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago, before starting her own catering and private-chef company, GDL Foods. The granddaughter of movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada was born in Rome and grew up in Los Angeles, where she now lives.