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Posts Tagged ‘Tuna’

Baked Orzo Puttanesca

Posted in Fish, Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 22 March 2022| Leave a Comment »

Do buy good quality tuna for this, packed in olive oil. We like Ortiz which is widely available and excellent quality. We’d also highly recommend Shines’ Wild Irish Tuna, one of our local companies based in Donegal. We have tried loads of their tinned and jarred fish and they are all top quality.

Wine Suggestion: We chose a lighter red to match this dish from the Marches in central Italy. The Umani Ronchi San Lorenzo Rosso Conero has style and panache and the medium body, morello cherry flavours, soft spices and silky tannins are a charming match.

Baked orzo puttanesca – serves 4

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 3 anchovies in oil, drained and roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp capers
  • 30g preserved lemon, discard the flesh and thinly slice the skin into strips
  • 70g pitted Kalamata olives, roughly torn in half
  • 2 tins of good tuna in olive oil, drained and roughly flaked
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 250g dried orzo
  • 1-2 plum tomatoes, cored and cut into half ½ cm thick rounds
  • 40g Parmesan, finely grated
  • 5g basil leaves, roughly torn

Preheat the oven to 200C fan.

Heat 3 tbsp of the olive oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan that has a lid. Add the onion and cook gently for about 8 minutes or until softed and browned. Add the garlic, chilli flakes and anchovies and cook for another minute, until fragrant.

Stir in the capers, half the preserved lemon strips, 45g of the olives, the tuna, tomato purée, tinned tomatoes, orzo, 450ml of water, 1 tsp of salt and lots of black pepper. Bring to a simmer, then cover with the lid and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the orzo is cooked through.

Turn the oven up to 230C fan.

Remove the lid from the dish, top with the tomato slices and sprinkle over the cheese. Bake for a further 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned, then leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle over the remaining olives, preserved lemon, basil and 1 tbsp of oil before serving.

(Original recipe from OTK Shelf Love by Noor Murad & Yotam Ottolenghi, Ebury Press, 2021.)

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Conchiglie with Tuna, Egg & Capers

Posted in Fish, Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 21 January 2022| Leave a Comment »

This recipe is from Rachel Roddy’s fabulous book, An A-Z of pasta. She introduces this one by asking if you are familar with vitello tonnato, which happens to be one of Jules’ favourite dishes, so we had to try it. Rachel uses the lumache pasta shape, which means snails and they are a bit like snail shells. We found these hard to find so we substituted conchiglie to great effect.

Wine Suggestion: look for a crisp, fresh white with a good body/structure like a dry, unoaked chardonnay from a cooler region. For us it was Céline & Frèdéric Gueguen’s Bourgogne Côtes Salines. Grown in vineyards just outside the Chablis appellation this is vibrantly fresh apple and melon flavoured with a savoury mid-palate that just melts into the tuna sauce.

Conchiglie with tuna, egg & capers – serves 4

  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, trim to the palest bit, pull of any strings, and finely chop
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 x 200g tin of tuna in olive oil, drained
  • 2 tbsp tiny capers, rinsed
  • 200ml white wine
  • 1 unwaxed lemon, zested and juiced
  • 400g conchiglie (or lumache)
  • a sprig of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add a generous amount of salt.

Warm the olive oil in a frying pan, then add the onion and celery with a pinch of salt and cook on a medium-low heat, until soft. You need to be patient as this will take a while.

Add the tuna and capers, stir for a minute, then add the wine and allow to bubble for 10 minutes, adding 3 tbsp of lemon juice and some zest for the last few minutes. You are looking for a saucy consistency so cook for a bit longer if it is still watery.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the packet timings, then drain and tip into a warm bowl, pour the sauce over the top, add the parsley, toss together, then quickly add the egg yolks and toss again.

(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin: Fig Tree, 2021.)

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Tuna Pasta Bake

Posted in Fish, Food, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 6 November 2021| 2 Comments »

Who doesn’t love tuna pasta bake. We’re a bit sceptical about one pot cooking … what’s the big deal with using more pots? Anyhow, the one pot works in this case as the pasta absorbs all the flavours. This is also another dish that breaks the nonsense “no cheese with fish” rule.

This is easily halved and can be whipped up from store cupboard ingredients mid-week.

Wine Suggestion: A light, youthful sangiovese with plenty of fruit like Rocca delle Macie’s Chianti Vernaiolo.

Tuna Pasta Bake – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tins of tuna, drained
  • 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 25g capers
  • 25g black olives, halved
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • leaves from 1 sprig of thyme
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 400g short pasta, we used fusilli
  • 75g Cheddar cheese, grated

Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole, we have a shallow one which works well for this, then add the onion and cook until very soft. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the tuna, tomatoes, capers, olives, lemon zest, thyme and chilli flakes. Stir until well combined, then add the pasta. Season with salt and pepper, then stir until the pasta is completely coated in sauce.

Pour in enough water to just cover the pasta and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook until the pasta is al dente and has absorbed most of the water. This will take between 10 and 15 minutes, start checking at 10. You might need to stir now and again to stop it sticking to the bottom.

Heat the grill to high.

Sprinkle the dish with the cheese, then place under the grill until browned and bubbling.

(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers’ One Pot Wonders by Si King & Dave Myers, Seven Dials, 2019.)

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Sicilian Couscous Salad

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 3 March 2021| 2 Comments »

This couscous salad with fennel and tuna is perfect for lunch at the weekend. It’s very simple but the flavours all come together brilliantly. Do buy top quality tuna in oil – we used our local Shines Wild Irish Tuna in Olive Oil.

Wine Suggestion: not having a Sicilian wine to hand we still kept it Italian and opened Patrizia Felluga’s Zuani Vigne Collio Bianco. A multivarietal blend typical of the region this is precise, broad and complex while retaining good vibrancy.

Sicilian couscous salad – serves 3

  • 150g couscous
  • 1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder made up with 200ml of boiling water
  • 30ml best extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
  • 10g flaked almonds
  • 9 caper berries
  • half a fennel bulb, finely sliced, a mandoline works best for this if you have one
  • 185g jar of tuna in olive oil
  • a handful of rocket
  • juice of ½ a lemon

Put the couscous into a large bowl, pour over the hot stock, cover tightly with cling film and leave aside for 10 minutes.

Remove the cling film and fluff the couscous with a fork to separate the grains. Drizzle with 10ml of olive oil, then stir in the flaked almonds, caper berries and fennel and toss well.

Add the tuna, breaking it into chunks with a fork and mixing through.

Finally add the rocket, squeeze in the lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. Toss again and transfer to a platter to serve.

(Original recipe from A Table for Friends by Skye McAlpine, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.)

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Vitello Tonnato

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 31 August 2020| Leave a Comment »

Vitello Tonnato

Well it’s the last day of summer on this side of the world but we’re still hanging on for a while longer. Vitello tonnato is a true holiday dish and one we can never resist when we see it on a menu – forever summer!

You need to cook the veal and make the mayonnaise the night before you wish to serve.

Wine suggestion: naturally this goes with a range of Italian wines, either white or youthful reds. Make sure they aren’t too lush though and keep a bit of acidity or else the caprrs will work against you and you’ll lose the delicate flavour balance. To push out of this comfort zone though we headed east to Greece and a new found favourite: Thymiopoulos’ Xinomavro Jeunes-Vignes from Naoussa. With hints of youthful Burgundy and Piedmont, touches of crunchiness, delightful earthy red fruits and plenty of class to match the dish.

Vitello tonnato – serves 6

  • 2 banana shallots, halved lengthways
  • 1 carrot, halved
  • 1 celery stick, halved
  • 1 bay leaf
  • small bunch of thyme
  • 6 peppercorns
  • 200ml white wine
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 600g rose veal fillet, trimmed of any fatty bits and sinew

FOR THE MAYONNAISE:

  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 198g tin tuna in sunflower oil, drained
  • 1 tbsp baby capers, drained
  • 1½ tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp caster sugar
  • ¼ tsp sea salt, plus extra to season
  • 100ml sunflower oil
  • 50ml olive oil

TO GARNISH:

  • 2 tbsp baby capers, drained
  • roughly chopped parsley
  • 12 caper berries
  • lemon wedges

Put the shallots, carrot, celery, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, wine and chicken stock into a large saucepan. Add 1 tsp of salt and bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Place the veal into the stock, then turn down to a bare simmer and poach for 15 minutes, turning regularly. Remove from the liquid and set aside to cool. Keep 100ml of the cooking liquid for the mayonnaise.

When the veal has cooled, season it generously with black pepper and wrap tightly in clingfilm. Put in the fridge and chill overnight.

To make the mayonnaise, put the egg yolks, tuna, capers, 1 tbsp of the lemon juice, mustard and sugar into a food processor. Season with salt and black pepper. Whizz until well combined, then gradually add both the oils and blend until smooth and thickened.

Add 2 tbsp of the reserved cooking liquid and blend again to give a soft consistency, add a bit more if you need. Spoon the mayonnaise into a bowl, then season again and add some more lemon juice if needed. Cover the surface with clingfilm and chill in the fridge overnight.

When ready to serve, slice the veal very thinly and arrange in overlapping slices on a platter and top with spoons of the tuna mayonnaise. Garnish with baby capers, parsley and caper berries, then season again with black pepper and a little salt. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

(Recipe from the Hairy Bikers’ Meat Feasts by Si King and Dave Myers, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2015.)

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Tuna Cooked in Lentils

Posted in Fish, Food, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 9 August 2020| 2 Comments »

Tuna cooked in lentils

This really is the perfect dish by Joe Trivelli. Chunky pieces of tuna, earthy lentils and sweet tomatoes. We really recommend this one.

Wine Suggestion: Chill down a Grignolino, a red from Piedmont, and you’ve got a joyful  match. A friend brings in Olim Bauda’s version which is excellent, but we’re conscious this is a hard grape to find so if you can’t find one try a chilled, youthful Beaujolais or a Dolcetto.

Tuna Cooked in Lentils – serves 4

  • 200g dried lentils
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 350g thick tuna steak, cut into 3 cm chunks
  • 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • small bunch of basil leaves
  • 40g butter
  • 1 lemon
  • best extra virgin olive oil

Rinse the lentils and cook in water until tender, about 20 minutes, then drain.

Season the flour with salt and stir in the crushed coriander seeds. Lightly dust the tuna in the flour mixture.

Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and fry the garlic until golden. Remove the garlic from the pan and add the tuna. Turn quickly, then add the tomatoes and basil, followed by the lentils. Toss a few times, then turn off the heat. Put the butter on top and leave in the pan for 8 minutes, basting the tuna with the lentils. Squeeze over some lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

(Original recipe from The Modern Italian Cook by Joe Trivelli, Seven Dials, 2018.)

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Linguine with Tuna

Posted in Food, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , on 22 November 2018| Leave a Comment »

Linguine with Tuna

Please buy fancy tins or jars of tuna in olive oil for this. We often go for Ortiz but recently we’ve been buying Shines Wild Irish Tuna – who knew we had such fabulous fish in Irish waters. Italians will complain about serving Parmesan with this but we can do what we like 🙂

Wine Suggestion: a textural white like Vermentino is our pick. From the Tuscan coast is the delightful Poggio ai Ginepri which is worth seeking out and shows great promise from a very youthful vineyard. Looking further afield you could go for a Vermentino, or Rolle as it is also known as, from France

Linguine with Tuna – serves 4

  • 400g linguine
  • 150-200g tin or jar of tuna in olive oil (drained weight)
  • 50g capers
  • 50g green pitted olives, sliced
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped flatleaf parsley
  • pinch of chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

TO SERVE:

  • 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • 1-2 tbsp grated Parmesan

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add salt. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, put the tuna into a large bowl and break gently into flakes. Add the capers, olives, lemon zest, Parmesan, parsley and chilli flakes and stir slightly.

Reserve a ladleful of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the bowl and drizzle over the olive oil. Add about 100ml of the cooking water and mix to combine.

Season with salt & pepper, then serve immediately, sprinkled with extra parsley and cheese.

(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers’ Mediterranean Adventure by Si King & Dave Myers, Seven Dials, 2017.)

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Sicilian Tuna Pasta

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 28 July 2018| 5 Comments »

Sicilian tuna pasta

We loved this easy pasta dish that we cooked when camping underneath Château de Beynac, right beside the banks of the Dordogne, with hot air balloons floating by. Such happy memories.

Wine Suggestion: We don’t see wines from the Dordogne often in Ireland and found ourselves a bit at sea until we found the Vinotheque de Beynac run by Enrique; young, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and who had curated a nice, boutique selection of wines. His suggestion of the Chateau Montdoyen Un Point c’est Tout! Bergerac Rosé was a great match. If you’re near Beynac et Cazenac in the Dordogne, he’s well worth seeking out for local wine inspiration.

Sicilian Tuna Pasta – serves 4

  • 300g dried pasta shells
  • 4 heaped tsp baby capers
  • 500g ripe cherry tomatoes (mixed colours if available), halved
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 x 220g jar of tuna in olive oil

Cook the pasta in a large pan of salty boiling water according to the time suggested on the packet. Meanwhile, put a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add the capers, fry until very crispy, then scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the tomatoes, then sprinkle in most of the oregano. Drain and flake in the tuna, add 2 ladles of the pasta cooking water, and simmer until the pasta is cooked.

Drain the pasta, reserving a little more of the cooking water, then toss the pasta into the tuna pan. Mix together and loosen with a splash of the pasta water if needed. Taste and season, then serve scattered with the crispy capers and the rest of the oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.

(Original recipe from Jamie Oliver’s “5 Ingredients”, Michael Joseph, 2017.)

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Cheesy Tuna Pesto Pasta

Posted in Fish, Food, Gluten-free, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , on 20 June 2017| 3 Comments »

Cheesy tuna pesto pasta

Oh this is soooo easy and has become a regular feature in our house at lunchtime on Saturdays. Also adored by the resident 3 year old which is always a bonus. Maybe save the wine for after 7pm 😉

Cheesy Tuna Pesto Bake – serves 4 generously and the leftovers are good

  • 400g penne pasta
  • 200g tin or jar of good quality tuna in olive oil
  • 190g jar of pesto (we find that off the shelf rather than out of the fridge works better here as the fresh-made pestos make the dish a bit oily)
  • 100g cheddar, grated
  • 250g cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack.

Meanwhile empty the contents of the tin of tuna (including the oil) into a large bowl and add the pesto. Mash together with a wooden spoon. Stir in about a third of the cheese and all the tomatoes. Heat the grill to high.

Drain the pasta and stir into the bowl with the tuna and pesto mixture, then tip into a shallow baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Put the dish under the grill for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese has just melted.

Serve with salad and garlic bread if you like.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food.)

 

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Linguine with Yellowfin Tuna

Posted in Fish, Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , on 16 December 2014| Leave a Comment »

Obica: Linguine with Yellowfin Tuna

A simple but delicious dish from a cool restaurant called Obicà that we found on our last trip to Florence. They insist that it’s best made with fresh tuna (and they’re probably right) but we made it with top quality tinned tuna and it worked for us.

Wine Suggestion: Classic Italian matches for tuna depend on the region. If you are in Sicily a great match is their native Grillo grape, a textural, slightly salty and mineral wine with good body but not weighty. For this dish though we drank a Vermentino, made by Morisfarms, from the Tuscan coast. It has a great vinous texture and savoury character which combined with fresh fruit and minerality matches this Tuscan combination of tuna, tomatoes and olives.

Linguine with Yellowfish Tuna – serves 4-6

  • 2 tins top quality plum tomatoes (the Italian brands are good)
  • 500g yellowfin tuna
  • 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus a bit extra
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • a pinch of chilli flakes
  • 80ml white wine
  • 30g salted capers, soaked and drained
  • 100g pitted black olives (Gaeta or Kalamata)
  • 500g linguine
  • chopped fresh parsley to serve

Drain the tinned tomatoes and cut into strips.

Cut the tuna into 2cm cubes. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté with 1 sprig of rosemary and the chilli flakes.

Add the wine and simmer until it evaporates, then add the capers.

Add the olives and tomatoes and cook over a high heat for 15 minutes.

Cook the linguine until al dente, then drain and add to the pan of tuna sauce. Toss gently.

Sprinkle on the parsley, drizzle with some more olive oil, and garnish with the remaining rosemary.

(Original recipe from Obicà: Mozzerella Bar, Pizza e Cucina, Rizzoli, 2014.)

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Paprika- and Oregano-Marinated Fish with Cherry Tomato Salsa

Posted in Indian, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on 15 September 2014| 1 Comment »

Marinated Tuna with Cherry tomato salsa

Tuna steaks are definitely at their best when seared on a hot barbecue. The marinade would also work well with other firm fish fillets such as swordfish or kingfish.

Wine suggestion: we think a light bodied red would be a treat here which goes against traditional pairings. The trick is to get a lighter body and lower tannins. We drank a Beaujolais-Villages from Domaine Rochette, a delightful wine which balances it’s lightness with an obvious care from the winemaker and good fruit from the vineyards; polished and elegant as well as joyfully youthful.

Paprika- and Oregano-Marinated Tuna with Cherry Tomato Salsa – serves 4

  • 4 x 150g fillets of fresh tuna
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for cooking
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp smoked spanish paprika
  • lemon wedges, to serve

For the Cherry Tomato Salsa: 

  • 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 long red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
  • sea salt and black pepper

Put the fish in a shallow non-metallic dish. Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano and paprika. Pour this over the fish, cover with cling-film and refrigerate for half an hour.

Preheat the barbecue to high and brush lightly with olive oil. Barbecue the fish for a couple of minutes on each side (longer if you prefer the fish well done).

Toss all of the ingredients for the cherry tomato salsa together and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve the fish with some salsa over the top and a lemon wedge.

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Little Stuffed Eggs

Posted in Food, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , on 23 March 2013| 2 Comments »

These little stuffed quail’s eggs are very cute but also very time consuming. It also helps if you have little fingers!

Uoava di Quaglie Ripiene – to serve 4 as an antipasti

  • 12 quail’s eggs
  • 80g good quality tuna in olive oil, drained and finely chopped (we use Ortiz)
  • 2 tsp salted capers, soaked in water for 10 minutes, drained and finely chopped, plus 24 extra to garnish.
  • 1½ tbsp mayonnaise

Put the eggs in a small pot of water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Drain the eggs and put into a bowl of cold water to cool down before peeling. (The eggs are fiddly to peel but it’s a bit easier if you peel them while they are still in the water).

Cut the eggs in half lengthways. Carefully remove the yolks and arrange the egg whites on a serving plate. Put the yolks in a bowl with the tuna, capers and 1 tbsp of mayonnaise then mix together. Season with a little salt and some pepper.

Use your hands to roll the mixture into little balls, about 1tsp at a time. Carefully put the little balls into the cavities of the half eggs.

Spoon a tiny bit of mayonnaise on top of each half egg and garnish with a whole caper.

You could drizzle a bit of olive oil and add a twist of black pepper to finish.

Wine Suggestion: These are the kind of thing you can set out for people to nibble at when they’re having an aperitif. A good DOCG Prosecco would be nice.

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Tuna tataki noodles

Posted in Asian, Fish, Food, tagged , , , , on 8 March 2012| 3 Comments »

Tataki is a Japanese way of preparing fish which involves searing it quickly, slicing thinly and serving with ginger that has been pounded into a paste.  This takes just 15 minutes to make and is fresh, tasty and healthy.

Tuna tataki noodles – to serve 2

  • 2 tuna steaks
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground or cracked
  • 150g soba noodles, cooked according to the pack
  • 2 scallions, shredded
  • 1 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, grated
  • ginger grated to make 1 tbsp

Rub the tuna with the black pepper and sear in a hot non-stick pan for 1 minute on either side. Rest for a couple of minutes before slicing into strips.

Divide the noodles between 2 bowls and add half the tuna strips to each. Top with the scallions.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together to form a paste and drizzle this over the tuna and noodles.

Wine Suggestion: Tuna is meaty fish but this dish is definitely not heavy so a light red wine, such as a Beaujolais would work well. Stick it into the fridge for a short time so it is slightly chilled and it will give the whole meal a zing.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food.)

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Seared Tuna with a Green Olive Salsa Verde

Posted in Fish, Food, Spanish, tagged , , , , , on 14 October 2011| Leave a Comment »

The leftover salsa verde will keep in the fridge and is lovely with meat, fish or bruschetta.

To serve 4:

  • 4 tuna steaks
  • olive oil
  • sea salt flakes
For the salsa verde
  • 10g each of flat-leaf parsley leaves, mint leaves and basil leaves
  • 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp capers, drained and dried
  • 50g good-quality pitted green olives
  • 4 anchovy fillets in oil
  • finely grated zest of 1/4 small lemon
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
To make the salsa verde, drop the herbs into boiling water for a few seconds, then drain and refresh under cold water. Squeeze out the water, then put on a chopping board with the garlic, capers, olives and anchovies and finely chop everything together. Scrape into a bowl and add the lemon zest, mustard, lemon juice, olive oil and some black pepper.

Heat a cast-iron griddle pan over a high heat. Brush the tuna with olive oil and season with sea salt. Put them on the griddle, turn the heat down to medium high and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side so you get nice char marks but the fish is rare on the inside.

Serve the tuna steaks with the salsa verde spooned over the top.

(Original recipe by José Pizarro for Sainsbury’s Magazine, October 2011).

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A Jono & Jules Original!

Posted in Fish, Food, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , on 23 September 2011| Leave a Comment »

It’s amazing what you can throw together when rummaging through the cupboard. We always make huge batches of tomato sauce and freeze it as you can use it in so many things. We made pizza on Tuesday which didn’t quite use the whole tub and this is how we used up the leftover sauce. We recommend buying good quality pasta – we like Martelli which comes in cute yellow paper bags but most importantly has a great texture – you will notice the difference.

To make this dish we sliced up a red chilli and sautéed it in a glug of olive oil. We then added our leftover tomato sauce and some tuna chunks from a jar of tuna fillets in olive oil – much nicer than tinned and we always avoid brine! Heat this gently while you cook your spaghetti. Throw some rinsed capers in at the end and toss the sauce and spaghetti together. Yum!

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Here’s what to do with your pesto

Posted in Fish, Food, tagged , , , , , , on 4 September 2011| 2 Comments »

Yum yum yum yum! Throw this together after work and you won’t be disappointed. Try and get salad potatoes – we could only find floury new potatoes in the village and they sort of went to mush. A great way to use up pesto.

Warm potato and tuna salad with pesto dressing – to serve 4

  • 650g new potatoes, halved lengthways (try and get waxy/salad potatoes)
  • 2 tbsp pesto (fresh is best – see recipe below)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 cherry tomatoes
  • 175g can tuna (we like to use the tuna in oil that comes in jars)
  • 200g runner beans, sliced finely on the diagonal (or you can use halved green beans)
  • couple of handfuls of spinach
Put the potatoes in a pan of boiling water, bring back to the boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, mix the pesto and oil together. Halve the tomatoes, drain and flake the tuna. Add the beans to the potatoes for the last 3 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and beans and tip into a salad bowl. Stir in the spinach so it starts to wilt. Season well. Scatter the tomatoes and tuna over the top and drizzle over the pesto. Give it a final toss and you’re ready to go.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Italian tuna balls (hee hee)

Posted in Fish, Food, Healthy, Italian, Pasta, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on 14 July 2011| 5 Comments »

Well this was a pleasant surprise! We only made it cause it was super cheap and low fat but we will definitely be doing it again. This costs less than €2 a head and it is gorgeous! We don’t buy tomato pasta sauce because this one is so fabulous, super cheap, easy and freezes. We usually have some pasta dough in the freezer that needs used too so the picture has fresh tagliarini – so for us it cost the price of a tin of tuna.  Still  we don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you use shop bought sauce and dried spaghetti either.

Italian Tuna Balls – to serve 4  (easy to double or halve)

  • 2 x 160g cans tuna in oil, drained (reserve a bit of the oil)
  • small handful pine nuts
  • finely grated zest 1 lemon
  • small handful parsley, roughly chopped
  • 50g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 400g spaghetti
  • 500g jar tomato pasta sauce

Flake the tuna into a bowl, then add the pine nuts, lemon zest, parsley, breadcrumbs and egg. Season and mix with your hands until really well combined. Roll the mix into 12 walnut-size balls. Put a large saucepan of water on to boil, then cook the spaghetti according to the pack.

Heat a little of the tuna oil in a large non-stick frying pan, then fry the tuna balls for 5 minutes or until completely golden all over. Drain on kitchen paper. Heat the tomato sauce, then toss with the pasta and tuna balls.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Cheap and healthy tuna and couscous

Posted in Fish, Food, Healthy, tagged , , , , , , on 24 November 2010| Leave a Comment »

We were up in Belfast for the weekend which always means over-indulgence and I then flew to Birmingham for a conference and ate very boring and fatty food – what a waste!

This was a much needed healthy dinner and yet again I had succumbed to M&S reduced tuna steaks (I just can’t help myself when it comes to food bargains!).

This reads fairly dull but actually it was really tasty. I’m not a big fan of red onions (like I usually poke them out of a salad) but the way these are macerated with the lemon juice really takes the sting and sharpness out of them.

Highly recommended for when you feel like something healthy and tasty (or if you have to use them cheapo tuna fillets you bought).

I found this recipe in another of my old BBC Good Food magazines.

Hot mustard tuna with herby couscous (serves 4 though we halved it very successfully)

  • Put a finely sliced red onion in a little bowl with the zest and juice of a lemon and some seasoning – leave to soak for about 5 minutes to soften the onion a bit.
  • Put 250g of couscous into a large bowl and pour over 400ml of hot vegetable stock, cover with cling film and leave for 10 minutes.
  • Season 4 tuna steaks, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil, then pat 2 tsps of English mustard powder over them.
  • When the couscous is ready, add a bunch of roughly chopped flat parsley and 2 tbsp of capers to the onions – give it a good stir before mixing into the couscous with a fork.
  • Heat a griddle pan and sear the tuna steaks for a minute on each side (more if you don’t like it rareish).
  • Serve with lemon wedges.

Julie

Original recipe can be found here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4839/hot-mustard-tuna-with-herby-couscous

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