Griddled tuna with olive tapenade and garlic soup
Griddled tuna is served with a silky garlic soup, fresh basil oil and black olive tapenade for a Mediterranean-style feast.
Ingredients
For the soup
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 10 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 500ml/18fl oz light chicken stock
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the black olive tapenade
- 100g/3½oz black Kalamata olives, stones removed
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 50ml/2fl oz olive oil, to loosen
- splash red wine vinegar
For the basil dressing
- 1 bunch basil
- 150–200ml/5–7fl oz olive oil
For the grilled tuna
- 200g/7oz tuna steak
To serve
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Method
To make the soup, heat the oil in a large saucepan and sweat the onion and garlic for 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and bay leaf, continue to sweat for another 10 minutes and then add the stock. Simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables have softened, then add the cream. Bring back to the boil, season with salt and pepper and blitz to a smooth purée in a food processor or with a hand blender. Keep warm.
To make the black olive tapenade, blitz all of the ingredients, except the oil and vinegar, in a food processor or blender to a paste, then loosen with the oil. Add the vinegar, taste and season with salt and pepper.
To make the basil dressing, blanch the basil in boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove and refresh in cold water. Drain and squeeze all the water out and place into a blender with the oil and blend until smooth. Pass through a sieve and set aside.
To cook the tuna, heat a griddle pan over a high heat. Season the tuna with salt and pepper, then griddle on both sides until charred on the outside and rare inside. Leave to rest, then slice.
To serve, heat the vegetable oil in a small frying pan. Fry the garlic until golden brown. Spoon the soup into bowls and drizzle over the basil dressing, olive tapenade and fried garlic. Serve with the tuna.
