Seared tuna with a citrus, pistachio crust
Many people believe that making seared tuna at home is a nightmare, that it should be left to the professionals but this is entirely false. Seared tuna is an incredibly simple and easy dish that can be whipped up in a matter of minutes. It is also seriously impressive so your guests might think you are the next Nigella.
Ingredients:
12 baby potatoes
200g unsalted, shelled pistachio nuts
Zest from 1 lemon
French beans
500g tuna fillet
A splash of olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Knob of butter
1 tablespoon parsley
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Maldon sea salt and black pepper
Optional: Green salad and pickled ginger
Method:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°c.
2. Give the baby potatoes a wash and pop them into a pot of salted water, bring it to the boil and leave them to cook. Once they are cooked through, set them aside and leave to cool.
3. Put the pistachio nuts and lemon zest into a food processor and grind them up until you are left with a beautiful, textured, green grain. I usually grind the nuts down to the same size as a grain of cous cous. Pour the pistachio grain onto a baking dish and set aside.
4. Top and tail the French beans and drop them into a pot of rapidly boiling water, leave them to boil for 2-3 minutes or until they are bright green and cooked to your liking.
5. Transfer your tuna fillet onto a clean chopping board. Using a very sharp knife, cut the tuna into two oblong fillets. The thickness should be the same size as when you make a circle by touching your thumb and index finger together.
6. Rub each fillet generously with olive oil.
7. Heat a big pan. When the temperature is very hot, drop the tuna fillets into the pan and sear each side for 1 minute. Take the fillets off the heat, lather them with a tablespoon of mustard and roll them in the pistachio grain until they are covered with a thick layer.
8. Put the tuna into the oven for 3 minutes.
9. Melt a knob of butter in a pan, drop in the parsley as well as a teaspoon of garlic. When the parsley butter is nice and hot, drop in the potatoes and swirl them around in the butter until they are heated through and coated.
10. To plate, cut the potatoes in half and lay them flat side down on the plate. Place a portion of beans over the potatoes. Thinly slice your tuna fillet and place neatly over the bed of potatoes and beans.
11. I usually serve this dish with a simple green salad that I lace with some pickled ginger.
This beautiful photo was styled by Lexi Bechet and photographed by Jono Nienaber from Pure Photographic studio.