Seared tuna is a delicious meal that takes only a couple of minutes to cook. Serve it with this salmoriglio sauce and you've got a real winner, for company or for any night. But first you need to be sure of getting really fresh tuna. We were fortunate to receive this gift of fresh tuna last week from our friend Lou, who had just returned from an overnight fishing trip, where he and friends travel 60 miles offshore in search of the prized catch. It doesn't get much fresher than this, unless you cook it onboard the boat.
These are the pieces I cooked. One is thicker than the other, so you need to factor the thickness into your cooking time. Cooking time depends on not just the thickness, but how rare you like your tuna. I don't like it raw, but I didn't want to overcook the fish where no pink was showing. I first smeared the fish with a little olive oil, then pressed some "everything seasoning" into the flesh. In the past I've used a combination of white and black sesame seeds and served it with an Asian-inspired sauce (see that recipe here), but I wanted to use some of my fresh herbs, so I decided to make salmoriglio, a commonly used sauce in Sicily and Calabria. We loved the combination of flavors.
This will give you a pink interior, but a bit more cooked flesh near the surface. If you want it even more rare, then adjust and cook it less. I served it with baked eggplant fries (recipe coming soon).
Salmoriglio sauce is traditionally made with parsley and oregano, but my parsley seemed to have fizzled out mid-summer, so I grabbed a few other herbs, like marjoram, chives and oregano, that were still going strong. There are no rules, so use what makes your taste buds happy. This was definitely a happy marriage of flavors.
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Seared Tuna with Salmoriglio Sauce
about 1 pound of fresh tuna
a little olive oil to smear over the fish
1/4 cup of "everything seasoning" or a mixture of white and black sesame seeds
for the salmoriglio sauce:
zest of one lemon
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup- 3/4 cup fresh herbs (use parsley, oregano, marjoram or chives or a combination of them)
2 cloves garlic
salt, pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
Remove the fish from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 1/2 hour.
Meanwhile make the sauce. Place all ingredients into a blender and whir until almost smooth. It's ok if there are tiny bits of herbs showing. Set it aside while you cook the fish.
Pat the tuna dry and smear with a little olive oil on both sides, then press the everything seasoning or sesame seeds into the flesh. Sear the fish in skillet (I used cast iron) on medium heat, flipping it once after a couple of minutes. If you like your tuna cooked more, sear it longer. If you want it rare, cook it less. A lot depends on the thickness of the tuna.
Serve with the salmoriglio sauce.