I am living and working outside a big city, which is officially called rural, as you know. Unfortunately, the city is closing in and less and less rural is left. We are about 30-40 minutes outside the city of Atlanta, with a limited choice of restaurants. Going out for lunch on a regular basis, is not in the cards, unless you’re OK with taking off for a few hours. So, I regularly resort to making my own tuna fish sandwich; a recipe for another day. It is a less time consuming than driving into town and it’s a tasteful and healthy option.
Today I wanted to make a more elaborate tuna salad with some pasta mixed into it. The tuna fish I use is white Albacore in water. I prefer this over tuna fish in oil, because it give me the flexibility to decide what fat source I want to use. This time just plain olive oil.

Key ingredients in This Recipe
- Pickled spicy beans – I used Mean Beans
- Capers
- Pill pasta – or pastina
- Garlic
- Lemon juice and zest
- Tuna fish – I always use the one ‘in water’
- Radicchio leaves – the vehicle for the salad.
The result is a really nice and simple tuna fish salad. You’ll have the crunch from the beans and the tingling effect on your tongue (spicy beans). The softness of the pasta, still with a bite, the herbal flavor of the capers. The bitterness of the radicchio and the splash of ‘freshness’ from the lemon. All mixed with the tuna fish and a little bit of salt and pepper.
This Radicchio Shells with Tuna Fish Salad is a delicious healthy meal; low fat, high fiber, rich in omega 3 fat and done in no time.
Radicchio Shells with Tuna Fish Salad
Pin Recipe FacebookIngredients
- 2 ounces pill pasta, or any other small pasta
- 3 1/2 ounces tuna fish in water
- 2 ounces pickled beans
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 leaves radicchio
- salt and pepper
- parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Boil water and salt in a sauce pan and cook the pasta according to the directions on the packaging. Drain and cool.
- Wash the radicchio leaves and pat them dry.
- Drain the tuna fish, and cut the mean beans in small pieces.
- Transfer tuna to a bowl and shred tuna fish meat. Add all other ingredients to the bowl and mix.
- Place the two radicchio leaves on a plate and fill them with the tuna fish salad.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
- Add toasted bread if you like.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.