Grilled tuna with piperade (Thon grillé avec une piperade)

A piperade is a classic Basque dish of cooked capsicum seasoned with the famous regional chilli, called after the small town of Espelette.

• serves

  2

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

It’s also delicious cold on its own or as part of a cold platter.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ brown onion, finely sliced
• ½ red capsicum, seeds removed, cut into 1 cm strips
• 1 green capsicum, seeds removed, cut into 1 cm strips
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs lemon thyme
• 1 bay leaf 
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ½ tsp espelette pepper (or other type of mild-hot chilli)
• 1 tbsp lemon olive oil
• 2 very fresh tuna steaks, each about 120 g each and about 2 cm thick 
• 4 small sprigs parsley

Instructions

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and stir for 2-3 minutes or until soft. Add the capsicum, reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomato, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, a little salt and pepper and half the espelette pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened and reduced.

Preheat a cast iron grill over high heat.

Brush the tuna on both sides with half the lemon olive oil and season with salt and the remaining espelette pepper. Cook the tuna on the hot grill for about 1 minute on each side (or a little more if you wish). Cut each tuna steak into 3 pieces.

Spoon the piperade onto 2 plates and top with the tuna. Drizzle the remaining lemon oil over the top and garnish with sprigs of parsley.

Note

• You can prepare the vegetable piperade ahead of time. The very fresh tuna is best cooked briefly at the last moment.

Taste le Tour with Gabriel Gaté starts Saturday 7 July 2018 on SBS and then on SBS On Demand and finishes 29 July 2018. Visit the Taste le Tour website to catch-up on episodes, cook up his recipes or find out more about the series.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

It’s also delicious cold on its own or as part of a cold platter.