Bluefin Tuna alla Siciliana
(make 2 servings)
- 8 big ripe tomatoes, peeled and sliced (instructions follow);
- Olive oil;
- 2 big white onions, sliced not too thinly (roughly 5mm (1/6"));
- 1 pinch of red chili flakes;
- 4 fresh tuna steaks under 1cm of thickness;
- 1 handful of fresh basil leaves;
- salt.
Roasted Saffron Polenta wedge:
- 125g polenta flour;
- 450g water (check your package for the proper amount of water, use a little bit less than recommended to obtain a thick polenta);
- Salt;
- Saffron (I used 1/2 little bag of the preportioned one, I guess 1/8 tsp should do).
Start by preparing the polenta; check the polenta package for the proper
instruction but usually you will have to bring the water to a boil, salt it,
add the saffron and stirring carefully the polenta flour in a smooth flow.
Pour the polenta in an oiled surface
or over a non stick surface (like baking paper) and spread it into a disk of
roughly 1cm (1/3") of thickness. Let it cool down completely. Once come to room temperature, the polenta will
harden and it will be easy to cut it in wedges or bars that you will oil
slightly. Warm up a stovetop grill and grill few chunks of polenta at a time.
Turn the polenta chunks when you will have nice marks on them.
Now the tuna. To peel the tomatoes, bring
a big pot of water to a rolling boil and cut a cross on each tomato at the
opposite end of the stem, you have only to go just across the skin. When the
water will be boiling, drop 3-4 tomatoes at a time in the pot and let them
blanch for 20 seconds or so. Take the tomatoes off the water, let them cool
down enough to handle. Thanks to the blanching, the peel would have detached
from the body of the tomato o you can simply peeling them by pulling the peel
off with your hands or using the dull side of a knife.
When all the tomatoes will be peeled,
take their stem end out, cut in half and then in slices.
In a big pan, warm up the olive oil
and start adding the sliced onions little at a time so they start softening but
not stewing.
When they will all be soft, add the chilies and the tomatoes. Stir, bring them to simmer and cook covered, on low flame, for 1 hour or so or until the tomatoes will be cooked through and soft. At this point, plunge in the tuna steaks covering with the sauce, sprinkle them with some salt; bring to the simmer and poach until cooked for 10 minutes or so.
If the sauce results to watery, reserve the tuna on plate and keep warm while you reduce the sauce. Season with salt, fold in the hand torn basil leaves and let infuse for 5-10 minutes.When ready to serve, warm up the tuna in the sauce and serve drizzled with a little bit of fragrant olive oil.
To company this aromatic and summery dish, you may serve these: