The Heart Foundation recommends we eat 2-3 servings of seafood per week, but most Australians don’t or are a little nervous about cooking fish. But with a few super simple techniques in your tool kit you’ll be confident to give it a go.
Chef Tom Walton, who lives with his wife and three young children between Sydney and Byron Bay, is an award-winning chef and restaurant entrepreneur. His seared tuna minute steak is seafood simplicity at its best, taking no longer than 10 minutes from start to finish. It makes the perfect light meal in the warmer months. For a more substantial bowl, toss the seared tuna through some cooked pasta!
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 4 x 150–160g tuna steaks
- Sea salt flakes and ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 250g red grape tomatoes
- 250g yellow grape tomatoes
- 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
- Handful flat-parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- Handful dill sprigs, roughly chopped
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
- 400g cooked spaghetti, reserving ½ cup starchy pasta cooking water (optional
- Dried chilli flakes (optional)
Method:
- Preheat a large non-stick frying pan, char-grill pan or barbecue over high heat.
- Season the tuna steaks with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Cook in batches for 30 seconds on one side and remove from the pan without flipping. If you prefer your tuna well done, cook for 30 seconds each side and then transfer to a plate to rest for 1–2 minutes.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the pan with the garlic, tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Cook until the tomatoes begin to burst, then add the olives, capers and a crack of pepper. Add the herbs and stir through. To serve the tuna as it is (pictured), spoon the tomatoes over it. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
- To serve the tuna with pasta, slice it into thin strips and combine with the cooked spaghetti, tomato and herb sauce, reserved starchy pasta cooking water and a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and dried chilli flakes, if you like.
In Tom’s new cookbook, More Fish, More Veg, out now from Murdoch books for RRP $39.99, he walks you through the key cooking methods for perfect fish and veg step-by-step, and provides pointers on sustainability and seasonality that will take the guesswork out of what fish to buy. He’ll also show you how to make veg the star of the show with his vibrant dishes that are full of life and colour.
