The first picture that comes to mind when anyone mentions 'seared tuna' is an Asian styled dish. Sesame seeds on the outside, probably, some kind of ponzu-ish dipping sauce, and if it's a main course and not an appetizer, perhaps some buckwheat noodles and some snow peas or a grilled bok choy for color. It has become ubiquitous.
And boring.
Meet the better Mediterranean alternative: seared tuna with a chopped lemon and walnut bagna cauda. Meaning "hot bath" in Italian, bagna cauda is a traditional Piedmontese olive-oil based dip for raw vegetables but here, I used Judy Rodgers' recipe for bagna cauda from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook, but cut back on the oil and added more lemon to create a warm, chunky topping to spoon over sliced seared rare tuna fanned over a pile of papparadelle pasta. My husband went NUTS over this dish.
2 4-ounce tuna steaks, exterior salted then seared
enough papparadelle for two, about 4 ounces
The relish:
1/2 small lemon, end removed, sliced very thin, seeds removed, then chopped
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/3 c good-flavored extra virgin olive oil
3 anchovies, chopped, or 1 heaping tablespoon flaked canned tuna*
2-3 tblsp freshly chopped walnuts (or the meats of 8 walnuts)
pinch of salt
cracked black pepper
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat til sizzling. Stir, remove from fire and set aside with lid on. Let it rest and meld while you cook the pasta and prepare your fish. Warm the sauce just before serving. Toss a heaping tablespoon of it with the cooked papparadelle, and spoon the rest over the top of the fish.
*No anchovies on hand, so I used the tuna. If you do likewise, feed another heaping tablespoon to the cats who will by now be biting your ankles and then throw the remainder in the bottom of a salad bowl. To that add the juice from the other half of the lemon, a dash of worcestershire sauce, some olive oil, salt and cracked black pepper to make a very taste caesar-like salad dressing to toss with a chiffonade of romaine and about 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Nothing need go to waste!