Tag: tuna

Damien Pignolet’s Grilled Tuna with Pistou & Tomato Aioli, with Fennel and Kipfler Potato Salad

.Reading time 5 minutes.

Serves: 6

This very much 80s, very much Southern French dish is still absolutely in vogue.

Mayonnaise (aioli) and fish has never, ever dated.

Especially in the warmer months.

The whole thing is just sublime. The olives and fennel with the potato.

The wonderful tomato aioli with the tuna and pistou.

You would knock people’s socks off with this dish and it isn’t that hard to prepare.

Indeed, other than the salad and cooking the fish, the rest could be done in advance.

This is lux, 80s, 1-hat eating.

Just add sunshine and a good, cold white.

I just love it when a dish like this works just so, so well.

Ingredients

6 x 200gm portions tuna fillet
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Pistou

2 small cloves garlic, pelled
20 large basil leaves
3 – 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Tomato aioli*

3 ripe tomatoes, quartered
A drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 egg yolks
100ml extra virgin olive oil
60 – 80ml grapeseed oil
A little lemon juice

Fennel and kipfler potato salad

8 – 10 medium kipfler potatoes
60ml extra virgin olive oil
1 medium-sized fennel bulb
A touch of aged balsamic vinegar
24 Ligurian olives (we used half this amount)

Method

  1. Make the pistou: finely chop the garlic, then work to a paste with a pinch of salt, using the flat of a knife. Transfer to a mortar and then add the basil and grind to a paste, adding a few drops of oil. When smooth, work in the remaining oil and season to taste.
  2. For the tomato aioli, preheat the oven to 250c. Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in a shallow dish until the tomatoes are scorched and very soft, then pass through a fine sieve and set the juice aside.
  3. Cover the garlic with cold water and bring to the boil. Drain and repeat, cooking this time until the cloves are tender when pierced with a small knife, then drain the garlic, remove the skin and crush with a small spoon in a small mixing bowl. Add the egg yolks and a pinch of salt and gradually add the oils in a thin stream, just a few drops to begin with, whisking constantly. The aioli should be very thick; if not, work in a little more oil.**
  4. Work in enough of the reserved tomato puree to flavour the aioli but retain the consistency of thick cream. Adjust the seasoning, adding lemon juice to taste.
  5. Next, make the salad. Peel the potatoes, cut intp 1cm thick slices then steam until tender, about 15 minutes. *** While the potatoes are still hot, dress them with the oil and vinegar, add the olives and season to taste.
  6. Trim the the base and top of the fennel. Shave the fennel bulb into 2mm-thick slices, preferably with a mandoline, then combine with the warm potatoes and olives. Mix well and do not worry if the potatoes break up – this is meant to be rustic food.
  7. Using a thin paring knife, cut a pocket in the side of each piece of tuna and work in the pistou.
  8. Heat a cast-iron grill or a large, heavy based frying pan until very hot but not smoking then lightly brush with olive oil. Brush one side of each tuna portion with oil and season this side only. Sear for about 2 minutes or until the edges of the fish just begin to change colour. Brush the raw side with oil, season, then flip over and cook for another minute or so. Transfer the tuna to warm plates, coat with the tomato aioli and garnish with the salad.

* A dish like this calls for a homemade mayonnaise/aioli, though I also very much get the merits of cheating. Simply follow the tomato step, do this cheat aioli and voila.

** Hats off if you whisk mayonnaise and aioli by hand, though seriously, consider a food processor as has been the norm since the 70s.

*** Microwave container. Splash of water. 8 minutes. Job done.

Leslie Pendleton’s Grilled Tuna in Flank Steak Marinade

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

Our favourite mid-week dinner is something simple, something fish.

Tuna features regularly.

Sometimes we do a roughly chopped salsa with tomato, red onion, olives, garlic, capers and basil with splashes of balsamic and olive oil.

Nat often does a Naum Jim and we stir fry some Asian greens on the side.

One of my new favourites is this super simple marinade by Leslie Pendleton.

Super simple being the operative term.

And yet the flavours totally infuse in a way that so many marinades do not.

Have some tuna in the freezer, take it out mid-afternoon and here is your special week-night dinner.

You should also have a white wine. It is mid-week after all.

Ingredients

3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp vegetable plus more for brushing the pan
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tuna steaks

Method

  1. In a large plastic bag, combine soy, lemon juice, vegetable oil, garlic, sugar, pepper and salt. Add the tuna steaks, coating with the marinade. Seal and refrigerate for 30 mins to 2 hours.
  2. Place a ridged grill pan over a medium heat, brush with oil and heat. Remove the fish from the marinade discarding the liquid and add to the pan. Cook too taste (3 minutes on each side for medium-rare.) Serve immediately.

Veal Schnitzel with Tuna Sauce and Herb Salad

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

This is a cracker from my backlog of Gourmet Traveller magazine tear-outs: essentially a 10cm pile of recipes I’ve torn from years of magazines.

Think quick-fire Friday dinner.

Nothing too complex, wine in hand, Friday night great dinner.

Each element is a winner.

A classic veal schnitzel. The flavour of a classic vitello tonnato liberally lashed on the veal. And the crunch of the salad of parsley, tarragon and shallot.

Bloody yum.

Keep the wine going and this is a Friday no-brainer.

How good is a good schnitty?!

Ingredients

2 c panko crumbs
2/3 c finely grated pecorino
1/2 c plain flour, seasoned
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4 veal schnitzels
Vegetable oil for shallow frying
1 c each (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley, dill and tarragon
2 red shallots, thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Tuna sauce

185gm canned tuna in olive oil, drained
1/2 c mayonnaise
2 tbsp baby capers in vinegar, drained and chopped
40gm cornichons, finely chopped
1/4 c (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley
1-2 tbsp lemon juice plus wedged to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 100c and line a baking tray with baking paper. Mix panko and pecorino in a bowl, then place seasoned flour and egg in separate bowls. Dust schnitzels in flour shaking off the excess, then dip into egg and press into the panko, coating evenly.
  2. Fill a large, deep frying pan with 2cm oil and heat to 180c. Fry the schnitzels in batches until golden brown and cooked through: 2 – 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels, placed on prepared tray and keep warm while you cook the remaining schnitzels.
  3. Meanwhile, combine herbs and shallot in a bowl.
  4. For the tuna sauce, blitz the ingredients in a small food processor until combined though still textured.
  5. Top schnitzel with herb mixture, drizzle with oil and season to taste with salt flakes. Serve with tuna sauce and lemon wedges.

Antonio Carluccio’s Insalata all’Abruzzese (Vegetable and Tuna Salad)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

This salad is a triumph of flavours: the combination of cooked and raw vegetables, the tuna, the whole thing.

(Yes, it is a summer salad and we had it in the tail of winter, though the sun was out and we had some good Italian wines to try.)

With a bit of toasted bread, this is a meal on its own.

Though next time I serve this, I hope it is part of a long Italian feast welcoming our family and friends back into our home.

That’s when the really good Italian whites and reds are coming out.

Bookmark this one. It is beautiful. And lockdown will end one way or the other!

Ingredients

300gm young zucchinis (around 4 small)
200gm green beans, trimmed (about a big handful)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200gm tomatoes (around 2 tomatoes)
1 red pepper
1 red onion
150gm good canned tuna in oil, drained
8 anchovy fillets in oil, drained
8 basil leaves, torn
1 tsp dried oregano
1 – 3 red chillies, chopped
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method

  1. Quarter the zucchinis lengthways, then cut into chunks. Cook the beans until al dente, drain and cool. Repeat with the zucchinis.
  2. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and remove the seeds. Halve, core and deseed the pepper, then cut into long, thin strips. Finely slice the red onion.
  3. Put the zucchinis, beans, tomatoes, red pepper and onion into a bowl. Break the tuna into little chunks and add to the salad with the anchovies, herbs and as much fresh chilli as you can take! Toss everything together, adding the olive oil, followed by the wine vinegar. Season and serve at room temperature.

Tuna with caponata

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

We love a piece freshly cooked tuna or swordfish, dressed with diced tomato, olives, some balsamic and olive oil. Super simple, super quick, foolproof.

Which means that caponata and fresh tuna – with, let’s say, three-times the effort of the abovementioned – really is where you need to be for that special, healthy, weeknight dinner.

It’s worth the extra effort.

Add some steam greens or a green salad – and definitely a bottle of white wine – and this is an awesome meal for you and friends.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
4 tuna steaks
Extra-virgin olive oil to serve
Lemon wedges to serve
Steam beans or a green salad to serve

Caponata

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small red onion, cut into 2cm pieces
1 large eggplant, cut into 2cm pieces
200gm grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
12 black olives, pitted and halved
1 1/2 tbsp capers in vinegar, rinsed
1 birdseye chilli, thinly sliced

Method

  1. For the caponata, heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Add onion and stir until golden and softened (5 minutes). Remove from pan.
  2. Add the eggplant and remaining oil to the pan and stir to coat; add 1/4 cup of water and then cover with a lid and steam until tender (5 minutes). Remove the lid and cook, stirring occasionally until golden (5 minutes).
  3. Return onions to the pan, add remaining ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally until tomatoes soften.
  4. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Season tuna and add to the pan and sear, turning once until cooked medium rare (2-3 minutes each side).
  5. Cut steaks in half and serve with caponata, lemon wedges, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil… steamed beans or a salad and definitely that bottle of white!