Fresh Tuna Pasta, Dominican Style: CasaMia RD's Fusion Recipe

At CasaMia RD, the kitchen has always been a meeting point: Ircia and Alessandro bring two different stories to the table, one Italian and one Dominican, and the two often blend into new dishes born almost as a game in the kitchen. This recipe is one of them: a classic fresh tuna pasta from the Mediterranean tradition, reinterpreted with the criollo sofrito, lime and cilantro that define the cuisine of the Dominican Republic's north coast.

A meeting of two cuisines

Fresh tuna pasta belongs to the Italian culinary tradition, where the fish is cooked briefly to keep it tender and juicy. In this version, the classic dressing of cherry tomatoes, garlic and capers gives way to a base of typically Dominican flavor: criollo sofrito. So this isn't a traditional Dominican Republic recipe — pasta isn't a historically rooted dish here, unlike rice, mangú or sancocho — but a fusion creation born in CasaMia RD's kitchen, designed for guests staying in Río San Juan who want to find on their plate the same flavors they encounter walking around town.

Criollo sofrito, the dish's Dominican soul

Sofrito (also called sazón) is the aromatic base of countless Dominican dishes, from rice to habichuelas guisadas to marinated meat and fish. The traditional version is made with ají cubanela (a sweet, non-spicy pepper), garlic, onion, plenty of cilantro, a pinch of bija (achiote) for color, and oregano, all bound together with a drizzle of olive oil. It's this base — sweeter and more aromatic than classic Italian soffritto, never spicy like the hottest Caribbean chilies — that gives body and color to this pasta's sauce.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 350 g (12 oz) spaghetti or linguine
• 400 g (14 oz) fresh tuna, cubed
• 300 g (10 oz) cherry tomatoes
• 1 ají cubanela (or half a sweet yellow/green pepper if unavailable)
• 2 garlic cloves
• ½ white onion
• a generous handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 local hot chili pepper, optional, for those who like it spicier
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
• a pinch of dried oregano
• extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Bring water to a boil for the pasta, salting it well. Meanwhile, cube the tuna, pat it dry and let it marinate for 10-15 minutes in a bowl with the juice of one lime, a drizzle of oil, salt, pepper and the oregano.

Make the sofrito: finely chop the ají cubanela, garlic, onion and half the cilantro, and let them soften in a pan with a drizzle of oil over low heat for a few minutes, until soft and fragrant, without letting them brown too much. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and the chili if using, raise the heat slightly and cook another 5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down.

Drain the tuna from the marinade (set it aside) and sauté it in the pan for 2-3 minutes: just long enough to sear the outside while keeping it pink and tender inside — don't let it dry out. Pour in the remaining marinade and let it flavor the sauce for a minute.

Drain the spaghetti al dente, toss it into the sauce with a ladle of pasta water and mix quickly over high heat. Turn off the heat and finish with the juice of the second lime, the grated zest and the rest of the fresh cilantro.

Serve right away, perhaps with a few avocado slices on the side.

The Caribbean touch: why lime and cilantro

In Dominican cooking, lime accompanies countless fish and seafood dishes, often used to marinate or to add freshness at the end of cooking, while cilantro (along with culantro, the broader-leafed variety) is the herb most present in everyday sofrito. Together with the criollo sofrito, these two ingredients are what shift the dish from a Mediterranean register to a Caribbean one, without betraying the structure of a classic Italian tuna pasta.

In Río San Juan restaurants, a dish like this is often paired with a well-chilled Presidente or a tropical fruit juice, to balance the lime's citrus note. And that's exactly the spirit in which we serve it at CasaMia RD too: a dish that tells, in one forkful, the meeting of two homes and two cuisines.

Frequently asked questions