Saturday, January 21, 2012

Tuna Steaks with Lemon Caper Pan Sauce



We were at the grocery store the other day and noticed these beautiful tuna steaks were on sale. We haven't made tuna in AGES, so of course we picked some up. This recipe is pretty easy to make, and all of the other ingredients are ones we keep on hand all of the time.


Here's what you need:
2 Tuna Steaks (or however many you need to feed your group)
1 Tbsp olive oil (to coat the pan)
Kosher Salt 
Black pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 Tbsp capers with some juice
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 cup-ish white wine
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Parsley to garnish


Here's what you do:
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. We used our high-walled skillet, but any 10" pan will do.




Lightly salt and pepper the tuna on one side.




We also added the lemon zest to the oil to flavor it a bit. Tuna and lemon work great together, so we really wanted to impart some lemony flavor.




Place it in the pan, seasoned side down, then season the other side. 



Let those hang out for a couple minutes. You'll see the fish change from this gorgeous pink color to white about 1/3 of the way up the side. That's when you should flip. You should have some nice browning on the fish.




Let those hang out for another couple of minutes, until you can't see pink on the side anymore. 


Meanwhile, chop up some parsley. Set this aside to garnish your meal later.



Once the sides of the tuna are cooked, pull out and set in a warm oven to keep it from cooling too much.


Add the capers to the pan and let them cook for about a minute.



Next, add in the juice from 1/2 a lemon.


Next, pour in the white wine. We didn't measure it, just poured about 1/4 of a cup.



Let that simmer for a couple of minutes. You want the overt wine smell to cook off and let the sauce reduce a bit. (Not too much, you still want it thin).




At the very end, we decided it needed a little something to kick the sauce up a notch. We added 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter and it made the sauce perfect.




We let the butter melt and simmer for another couple of minutes. 


Next, we just composed our plate by topping the tuna with the pan sauce and then the parsley.


Tuna is best when it's pink in the middle. The fish stays juicy and flaky. It's completely safe, so don't worry about germs or bacteria. 



Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. We've been using this basic Italian "picatta" sauce for thin pounded chicken breasts, thin scallipini of pork loin and for fish fillets like tilapia for years too. This is a great way to add kick to light flavored meats. We often serve it along side of herbed orzo, and it looks like you did something like that too. Looking forward to tomorrow's dinner.

    T.

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