Spaghetti with seared tuna

Another wonderfully simple dish ideally suited to summer, spaghetti con tonno scottato, literally spaghetti with seared tuna, is a quick and easy dish that is satisfying without being too filling in hot summer weather.

Okay, so you got me: this is what happened with the rest of the fresh tuna. This is one of those dishes you can whip up easily enough in no time at all even when you don't feel like cooking. This recipe feeds two to three adults. Scale up or down as needed.

I'm using fresh tuna here, but it works very well with more affordable frozen tuna steaks (though not tinned tuna). Just make sure you defrost them fully for at least 24 hours in the fridge before cooking.

Shopping list

The Spaghetti with seared tuna

• Enough spaghetti, fresh or dried, to serve two or three people

• 1 or 2 sustainability sourced fresh tuna steaks, sliced

• Two tspns of smoked garlic purée

• 1 red or brown onion, cubed

• 1 large yellow bell pepper, cubed

• 5 or 6 celery stalks, finely sliced

• 100g large closed-cup mushrooms, sliced

• 1 tbspn small capers

• 1 handful of small fresh plum tomatoes, sliced

• 6 or 7 sundried tomatoes

• 2 tspns of dried oregano

• 2 tbspns of tomato purée

• 100g of ricotta cheese

• Two generous handfuls of fresh basil, very finely chopped

• Salt and black pepper to taste

• A liberal dousing of extra virgin olive oil (at least 6 or more tbspns)

• 7 or 8 small, spicy pepperoncini (reduce the number if you don't like spicy)

The salad

• A selection of fresh green salad leaves of choice

• Two handfuls of pitted black olives, halved

• ⅓ of a fresh cucumber, very thinly sliced

• 3 tbspns balsamic vinegar

• 2 tbspns extra virgin olive oil

• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Method

The salad

• Prepare the salad first. Add the rest of the ingredients to the salad leaves. Store in the fridge until about 10 mins before taking to table

• Dress with the olive oil and balsamico or allow diners to dress it themselves at table

The spaghetti

1. Before starting the cooking, place 1 tspn of the smoked garlic purée, the tomato purée, a few of the pepperoncini and the sundried tomatoes into a suitable receptacle. Add a little olive oil, salt and pepper and blend to a paste with a handheld blender. Use about half of this paste (or pesto) to baste the tuna steak/s and marinade, covered, in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking

2. Add half of the ricotta to the remaining paste, blend and return to the fridge

3. Heat some of the olive oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, add the remaining smoked garlic purée, stirring to prevent sticking. When it softens but is not yet browned, add the sliced celery and allow to sweat for a few minutes, but not until entirely soft

4. Add the cubed yellow bell pepper, chopped fresh basil and sliced small plum tomatoes and stir in. Sautée until the ingredients change to "cooked" without being overcooked. Ordinarily it should take about five or six minutes

5. Add the sliced mushrooms and sprinkle over the dried oregano. Allow the sliced mushrooms to initially sweat on the top of the mixture, then stir them in. Cook all of these ingredients together, stirring regularly. Tip: you want the tomatoes and mushrooms to soften more than the celery

6. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. You'll use this to boil the spaghetti. If using more traditional dried spaghetti, this will take between 10 to 12 minutes but only about 3 to 4 mins if using fresh. So, time the cooking of the pasta according to when your tuna will be ready

7. While the spaghetti is cooking or before, add a little olive oil to a second clean, shallow frying pan. When the oil is hot (but not smoking), add the cubed onion, season with black pepper and sautée, cooking until browned but not caramelised

8. Mix in a couple of tspns of the tamato/pepperocino/garlic paste. As soon as this is absorbed, add the tuna and capers, stirring constantly so that the tuna cooks on all sides. Cooking the tuna fully will only take a few minutes. If you prefer your tuna merely seared and still rare (recommended), cook for only 1 minute. Remove from the heat and cover

9. As soon as the pasta is cooked, drain and add the remaining pesto of pepperoncini, cheese and tomatoes. Mix in the sautéed vegetables, add a spoon or so of ricotta and, finally, spoon the seared tuna and caper mixture onto the top of the pasta

10. Take to table and serve and accompanied with the salad

Accompaniments & Variations

• For veggie or vegan, simply swap out the tuna for (smoked) tofu or Quorn cubes. Cook these in exactly the same way as the tuna is cooked above, possibly for a few more minutes.

Pairings

I cooked this dish on the hottest day of 2022 so far; some 35°C at 9 o'clock at night. So forgive me if I paired it with cold Afri-Cola, sent to me by the kleine Otto, and a lot of ice.