Sicilian-style tuna: a recipe for a fragrant second course featuring fresh tuna steaks
Sicilian-style tuna, also known as Messina-style tuna or Catania-style tuna, is a second course of fish that contains all the Mediterranean aromas and flavours typical of Sicilian cuisine.
- fresh tuna, 4 slices
- Cherry tomatoes, 300 g
- Desalted capers, 50 g
- Taggiasca olives, 50 g
- Onion, 1
- Parsley, 1 bunch
- Chili pepper, to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- Sale, q.b.
- pepe, q.b.
- To prepare Sicilian-style tuna, first wash the cherry tomatoes and cut them into a cross (1).
- Blanch the cherry tomatoes in boiling water for 3 minutes (2).
- Once the time has elapsed, drain them and immediately immerse them in a bowl of water and ice to stop the cooking (3).
- Then peel the now cold cherry tomatoes (4), cut them into pieces and set aside.
- In a non-stick pan, sauté the thinly sliced onion for 5 minutes with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a little fresh chilli pepper sliced into rounds (5).
- Then pour in the diced cherry tomatoes (6).
- Add the pitted Taggiasca olives and the desalted capers (7).
- Season with chopped fresh parsley (8) and season with salt and pepper.
- Cover with a lid (9) and leave to cook for about 20 minutes.
- At this point, arrange the fresh tuna slices in the pan with the sauce (10).
- Close again with the lid (11) and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
- Once ready, remove the tuna from the heat (12).
- Transfer the Sicilian-style tuna to a serving dish (13), bring to the table and serve.
Sicilian-style tuna, also known as Messina-style tuna or Catania-style tuna, is a second course of fish that contains all the Mediterranean aromas and flavours typical of Sicilian cuisine.
Here, fresh tuna steaks are pan-fried with a quick sauce made with blanched cherry tomatoes, pitted Taggiasca olives, desalted capers, thinly sliced red onion, extra virgin olive oil, sliced chili pepper, and fresh parsley. The result is a fragrant and appetizing dish, perfect for a casual dinner, accompanied by crispy slices of homemade bread for the inevitable "mopping up" of the sauce.
This is, therefore, an easy recipe that, for optimal success, requires only a few small adjustments, starting with the choice of tuna, which must be very fresh, with a pleasant sea aroma, a bright red color, and firm, compact flesh. Cooking also requires a little attention. Our suggestion is to let the fish marinate for no more than 5 minutes, so that it is golden brown on the outside and slightly undercooked in the center; however, you can increase or decrease the preparation time according to personal preference.
How to prepare Sicilian-style tuna
To prepare Sicilian-style tuna, first wash the cherry tomatoes and cut a cross into them.
In a non-stick pan, sauté the thinly sliced onion for 5 minutes with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a little fresh chili pepper, sliced.
Then add the diced cherry tomatoes.
Cover with a lid and cook for about 20 minutes.
At this point, arrange the fresh tuna slices in the pan with the sauce.