This (near) zero-fat seared tuna with spätzle with mushrooms and butternut squash and a simple side dish of steamed tenderstem broccoli is a satisfying supper, easy to whip up in under 30 minutes. It's ideal for evenings when you feel like something tasty but really don't want to linger in the kitchen. If you're lucky enough to access fresh spätzle, it's even quicker.
Little sparrow, little sparrow...
Spätzle is one of my favourite German comfort foods. It's most commonly associated with Swabia and Alsace, But, you find versions of it under other names in Swiss, Hungarian, Slovenian and Austrian cuisine as well in other regions of Germany and even in Lorraine in France, which was, of course, German at one time. But we won't mention the war...
Think of it as a kind of pasta from Mitteleuropa. Unlike Italian pasta, it is more often served as a side dish, an alternative to potatoes or other carbs with meals rather than a dish on its own, though I love doing it as a main course. It probably sounds sentimental, but I learned this from a wonderful eatery called Ristorante bei Gino—they simply retained the name of the dodgy pizzeria that had been there before in the too-cool-for-school Berlin attitude of the time—that I think was on the Falkenstraße.
You can get spätzle with or without eggs. And, like pasta, you can get dried or fresh versions, though the latter is far less readily available outside of areas in which it is a staple.
I, however, I am very lucky. My brother-in-law Karel dispatched some gorgeous fresh spätzle to London with my partner Luc. So, that's what I'm using here and the good news is it freezes well. If you don't have the fresh version easily to hand, opt for the more common dried versions. Yes, you will need to boil it first. And, no, though you can make them fresh from scratch, I'm not sharing that recipe with you because it would be hypocritical: any time I've made spätzle, they've never been as good as widely available dried versions.
Because I'm still on my ultra-low fat regime, I've had to rethink the spätzle. It's often cooked in butter and served with cheese—my dad once characterised German cuisine as "fleisch mit Sahne"—and if you aren't doing it for the zero-fat aspect, I'd advise using butter instead of virgin olive oil. But, as a side dish, the cheese really isn't necessary unless it's something like a light bergkäse.
While the cooking time is short and the method is very simple, this is one of those recipes where you need to "do" various things before pulling it all together at the last minute, whether marinading the tuna or preparing various ingredients.
The thing that will benefit you most is taking the time to marinade the tuna steaks properly. You can do this as little as 40mins before cooking, but it's better if you do it 4 hours earlier or longer; ideally overnight. As an easy work night supper, I suggest marinading the tuna as you head out to the daily grind or the night before. It barely takes two minutes.
Shopping list
for the zero-fat seared tuna with spätzle
1 or 2 tuna steaks per diner—be led by size and appetite
2 small brown onions, chopped
150g large closed cup mushrooms; sliced
200g spätzle, ideally the type with egg
⅓ of a butternut squash (or equivalent portion of pumpkin)
1 tbspn of coarse mustard, such as dijon mustard
1 tbspn of garlic & ginger paste (or fresh equivalent, grated)
3 tbspns capers, 2 tbspns finely chopped, 1 not chopped
the juice and pulp of 1 fresh lemon
75ml dry white wine
200g tenderstem broccoli
A large clutch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
2 tspns virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Method
for the spätzle
Add 1 tbspn of the garlic & ginger paste, the coarse mustard and finely chopped capers to a cup or small bowl. Add the juice and pulp of ½ a lemon and mix together. Place your tuna steaks in a container and marinade with this mixture, turning to ensure all sides are coated. Cover and store in the fridge
If using dried spätzle, cook in boiling water as directed, drain and put to one side. NB: you don't need to do this step with fresh spätzle
Heat 1 tspn of olive oil in a non-stick pan on a medium heat. Add the cubed onion and gently sauté, adding a dash of white wine to prevent sticking. When the onions begin to soften, add the mushrooms and the chopped parsley and season with black pepper. When the onions and mushrooms are cooked, add the mashed butternut squash and cook for a few minutes to absorb the jusices, stirring. Remove from the pan and allow to rest
Using the same pan, bring it to a steady temperature at a low-to-medium heat, add 1 tspn of olive oil. When the oil has warmed up, gently cook the fresh (or dried, cooked and drained) spätzle. If you're not worried about the fat content, use butter, moving around the pan with a spatula. When the spätzle begin to sizzle, add the onion, mushrooms, butternut squash and parsley and stir in. Stir all the ingredients and cook together, seasoning with black pepper and a little salt (if desired). Reduce the heat to very low. Cover and keep warm until serving, stirring occasionally while you complete the rest of the meal.
Steam the broccoli. You can do so by a traditional stove-top method. Or, you can learn from the Japanese and do it in a microwave steamer for 4 to 6mins; always on approx. 600W power
for the seared tuna
Baste a griddle pan (or non-stick frying pan) with 1 tspn of virgin olive oil and heat on a high heat
When truly hot, sear the tuna steaks, cooking on each side for barely a minute or so. Remember that the lemon juice in the marinade will already have slightly "cooked" them—think of the principles of ceviche
A lot of the excess marinade—the capers or mustard—is likely to come away from the tuna. Allow this to happen; let them blacken slightly on the griddle pan: you'll use them in the reduction
When the tuna is just short of perfect, transfer to an oven-proof dish and keep warm
To a small, non-stick saucepan—correctly called a "sauce pan"—add the remainder of the marinade. Cook on a high heat. Add the remaining lemon juice and pulp, the white wine, and the "remnants" from the griddle pan. Bring to a vigorous boil
Once it has boiled for a few minutes and begins to reduce, add the whole capers. Reduce to a low/medium heat and cook, stirring regularly until it achieves the desired consistency
Plate your tuna steaks, spätzle and broccoli. Transfer the reduction to a serving dish and take to table so that diners can use it as desired. Bon appétit!
Alternatives
Sorry, vegetarians and vegans, this recipe actually has the word "tuna" in the title: it's basically pescatarian. That said, you can turn the spätzle part of this meal into a fanatastic veggie or vegan lunch or simple dinner without changing a thing.
Carnivores? Yeh, move on... Yes, you could flip it with chunks of ham, indulgent cheese or something. Just not really feeling it in my low-fat state...
Pairings
We had it with a perfectly serviceable muscadet, which, exactly, I forget; a perfectly quotidian wine for a quotidian dish. If I were going to get more adventurous with this one, I'd probably take my cue from the lemon and head in a Sicilian direction; grillo or cattaratto.
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