Add tuna off the heat.

Stir it in after you’ve drained the pasta and taken the pan off the stove. The residual heat warms the tuna without cooking it further.

Tuna is already cooked when you buy it. You’re not trying to cook it again — you’re just trying to get it warm and mixed in. Dump a can of drained tuna into a hot pan and let it sit for two minutes while you toss the pasta, and you’ve got dry, stringy fish. Not good.

Instead: cook your sauce (tomato, aglio e olio, whatever), boil your pasta, drain it. Then flake the tuna into the pasta, add oil or butter, and toss gently off the heat. The tuna breaks apart easily and stays moist.

Also helps to use oil-packed tuna (drained) — it’s less prone to drying out than the water-packed kind. And if you want to be extra, a splash of pasta water keeps everything loose.

Treat tuna like a garnish, not a protein you need to sear.