The World’s #1 Collection of Cookbook Recipes Online
mediterranean
chargrilled-tuna-with-dressed-beans-and-loadsa-herbs

Photo by: David Loftus

This is a really beautiful summer dish that takes hardly any time at all to prepare — and of course you can use different kinds of beans, such as black-eyed beans, flageolets, butter beans (lima beans) or even lentils. It’s a terrific hot snack or main dish — and with the tuna all torn up it makes a great salad. I like to griddle the tuna for a minute on each side so it has colour on the outside but still remains a little pink in the middle. A lot of people still want to cook tuna all the way through (which I think is madness!), but you must do it how you like best. It’s worth seeing if you prefer it pink in the middle though. I’m really going heavy on the herbs in this recipe — 4 or 5 years ago this might have been a bit OTT, but it’s really easy to get hold of a good selection of herbs now, so the more the merrier.

Yield : Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 100g/3 1/2 oz dried cannellini beans
  • 100g/3 1/2 oz dried borlotti beans
  • Optional: 1 tomato
  • Optional: 1 potato
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
  • 4 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
  • 1-2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 x 225g/8oz bluefin or really good dark yellowfin tuna steaks, about 1cm/½ inch thick
  • Zest and juice of 2 lemons
  • 3 handfuls of mixed fresh herbs (chives, chervil, basil, parsley, mint), roughly chopped

Directions

Feel free to use a couple of tins of beans if it’s more convenient. Tinned beans aren’t bad these days — they have got much better for some reason. But if you’re using dried, which still taste better, soak them overnight in water. They’ll double in size. You then just need to drain them and put them into a pan with fresh water to cover. Bring to the boil, then simmer them for around 40 minutes or until tender — sometimes I put a squashed tomato and a potato in the water with them, as it helps to soften the skins. When done, drain them, discarding the tomato and potato, and put them into a large bowl with 8 tablespoons of peppery olive oil, the red onion, anchovies and chillies. Season with salt and pepper and the lemon juice — for a bit of a twang.

Preheat your griddle pan until really hot. Season the tuna steaks with salt and pepper, sprinkle over the lemon zest and pat a little olive oil on both sides. Sear the steaks for a minute on each side. While the fish is searing, get your guests round the table. Throw the herbs into the dressed beans, mix up and divide between the plates. Take the tuna off the heat, tear it up and place on top of the warm beans.

Notes

Nice with some cold white wine.


© 2002 Jamie Oliver
 

Nutritional Information

Nutrients per serving

Nutritional information includes 1/8 teaspoon of added salt per serving, 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to pat on the fish fillets, but does not include optional potato and tomato.

785 kcal
16 % daily value
108 % daily value
52 % daily value
1479 mg
219 mg
67 g
2 g
15 g
40 g
90 mg
543 mg
7 g
41 g
37 % daily value

Explore Cookbooks on Cookstr

daves-dinners-a-fresh-approach-to-home-cooked-meals Dave's Dinners: A Fresh App...
by Dave Lieberman
allergy-free-desserts Allergy-Free Desserts
by Elizabeth Gordon
cook-with-jamie Cook with Jamie
by Jamie Oliver
the-lee-bros-southern-cookbook-stories-and-recipes-for-southerners-and-would-be-southerners The Lee Bros. Southern Cook...
by Ted Lee, Matt Lee
living-raw-food Living Raw Food
by Sarma Melngailis
sunday-suppers-at-lucques Sunday Suppers at Lucques
by Suzanne Goin
big-fat-cookies Big Fat Cookies
by Elinor Klivans
raos-cookbook Rao's Cookbook
by Frank Pellegrino
american-masala American Masala
by Suvir Saran
west-coast-cooking West Coast Cooking
by Greg Atkinson
parents-need-to-eat-too Parents Need to Eat Too
by Debbie Koenig
the-deen-bros-take-it-easy-quick-and-affordable-meals-the-whole-family-will-love The Deen Bros. Take It Easy...
by Bobby Deen, Jamie Deen
rosas-new-mexican-table-friendly-recipes-for-festive-meals Rosa's New Mexican Table: F...
by Roberto Santibanez
david-burkes-new-american-classics David Burke's New American ...
by David Burke, Judith Choate
a-bakers-odyssey A Baker's Odyssey
by Greg Patent
Already a member? Click here to Log In
close

Sign up to Cookstr!

  • Receive a free, handpicked selection of recipes in your inbox weekly
  • Save, share and comment on your favorite recipes in My Cookstr
  • Get updates on new Cookstr features and tools







By signing up you accept the
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Spinner
New to Cookstr? Click here to Sign Up
close


Forgot your password? Click here