Seared tuna with panzanella-style salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 600g/14oz baby tomatoes, cut in half horizontally
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 200g/7oz ciabatta, torn into small pieces
- 1 large banana shallot, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed
- 175g/6oz wood-roasted piquillo peppers, chopped (available from some supermarkets and from Continental delicatessens)
- 2 handfuls basil, leaves only
For the tuna
Method
For the salad, preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 1.
Place the tomatoes onto a baking tray, cut-side facing upwards.
Drizzle over one tablespoon of the olive oil and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Transfer the tomatoes to the oven and cook for one hour, or until softened and slightly dried out. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
Increase the oven temperature to 220C/450F/Gas 8.
Place the ciabatta pieces onto a baking sheet and drizzle over two tablespoons of the olive oil. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Transfer to the oven and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallot and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
Blend two-thirds of the roasted tomatoes and all of the red wine vinegar and olive oil in a food processor to a fine purée.
In a bowl, add half of the purée mixture to the crisp ciabatta croûtons and set aside to soak for five minutes.
Stir in the remaining roasted tomatoes, capers, piquillo peppers and basil leaves. Set aside.
For the tuna, place the tuna steaks onto a large plate.
In a bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, garlic and olive oil until well combined. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Pour the mixture over the tuna steaks and turn to completely coat them in the mixture. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
When the tuna has marinated, heat a griddle pan over a medium heat until hot. When the pan is hot, add the tuna and cook for one minute.
Give the tuna a quarter turn and cook for a further minute.
Turn the tuna by a quarter again and continue to cook for a further minute, or until criss-cross golden-brown griddle marks have appeared on the tuna.
Turn the tuna steaks over and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.
Remove the tuna steaks from the pan and set aside on a warm plate to rest for one minute.
To serve, carve the tuna steaks into thick slices. Divide the salad equally among four serving plates. Place one tuna steak on top of each. Drizzle over the tomato dressing.
