Tuna Steaks and Pasta

A quick weekend post for you; nothing fancy in terms of technique, but quite fancy when you look at the finished product.  The tuna steaks at Whole Foods were looking mighty fine the other day so I got a 6 oz steak and decided to save it for a special occasion.  I'm not quite sure why a random Thursday night was a "special occasion" but hey, part of living alone is reveling in the randomness of life.  Silly me thought seafood in the South would be cheap, but that was NOT the case with this beauty: $7 for the little piece.  It was good, though - and very fresh.

The tuna was simply seasoned (try saying that 3 times) with salt and pepper then seared on all sides so I got a nice crust on it.  Then I added about 1 Tbs soy sauce to the pan (be careful, it splatters) to give it an extra layer of flavor.

I served this alongside some al dente pasta topped with pesto.  

The next day, I made some more pasta and tried a little experiment.  I have a friend (aka: boyfriend) who likes his pasta a little more cooked than I do so I gutted it out and cooked it longer (past "al dente") to see if cooking time changes the flavor.  It did.  For the worse.  

Sauces taste much bolder and thicker and luxurious when the pasta is cooked JUST enough so they themselves impart a little nuttiness.  I hate to break it to you hun, but I was right: NEVER overcook your pasta.