When we saw the beautiful thick sushi grade tuna steaks on sale, we knew those steaks were meant for a special recipe such as Tuna Steaks Alla Genovese.
The Genovese technique uses a single skillet to quickly brown the fish steaks, then it makes a wonderfully tasting sauce, and at the end puts the two together, perfectly marrying the flavors.
The magic touch to cooking tuna steaks
Normally we like to grill tuna steaks or make them like our Fresh Tuna with Caramelized Onions. When we grill, my Honey watches the tuna steaks like a hawk so that they don’t go beyond medium rare.
If I cook the steaks in a pan, it’s a matter of tossing them in the skillet for a minute or so then flipping them over for another minute.
If you’ve ever tried to eat tuna steaks medium or well done, you know you have to have a large glass of liquid nearby just so you can swallow. I’ve made that mistake! To make it palatable, you either drown the tuna with tons of sauce or make tuna salad out of it.
Lucky seafood find
We couldn’t believe we found such a great deal at Lucky’s Market –fresh tuna at $5.99 a pound. We certainly love a good bargain! So, we bought quite a few tuna steaks just so we could freeze them to enjoy at a later date.
Lucky’s Market is a new store in our area. When we first saw their ads we thought they were something like a Save-a-Lot. The name just doesn’t fit the store, although you could say we got lucky with the delicious foods and bargains. 🙂
Lucky’s a store for many tastes
The store concentrates on fresh and organic fruits and vegetables. The meat and fish cases are loaded with lots of delicious choices and the deli is full of meats and cheeses. Their salads are so numerous it’s really hard to pick out what looks best. I wanted to sample all of them.
As you walk into the store you can smell the meat being smoked — we couldn’t believe they smoked their meats right there. Both our sons said that their pastrami is the best they’ve ever tasted and they are smoked meat experts!
All of the personnel are cheerful and helpful — every time we go there it’s a pleasant shopping experience.
Lucky’s Market doesn’t have a lot of stores throughout the country but they’re opening more. Why they chose our little town I don’t know, but I’m glad they did.
I believe there’s a Lucky”s Market being built right now in Savannah, which is good for us since we frequent that area– fishing trips to Saint Simons Island, Georgia. No, I ‘m not related to anyone at Lucky’s Market nor am I being paid to praise their store. If you have a Lucky’s Market nearby you’ve got to go take a look.
Tuna steaks are quick to prepare
Now, getting back to our Tuna Steaks Alla Genovese, you don’t have to cook them in the skillet if you don’t want to. Say you wanted to prepare this recipe for guests, the beauty of this recipe is that you can make the sauce ahead of time.
Say you want to grill the tuna steaks, all you have to do is omit the step of flouring and frying the steaks in the skillet.
You just make the sauce by sautéing the garlic, anchovies, and porcini in 3 Tablespoons of olive oil in a smaller skillet. You then would then just follow the rest of the sauce recipe. Just before grilling, you would season the tuna steaks with 3 Tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Once the guests arrive all you have to do is fire up the grill and cook the fish.
We haven’t made it on the grill yet, but the way hubby likes to grill I’m sure that’s in the near future.
The sauce is wonderful and we enjoyed it over bucatini. If you don’t put it over pasta, make sure you have a scarpetta ( bread for soaking up the delicious sauce).
You can also make this recipe with other seafood such as, bass, cod, and salmon. Since hubby loves to fish , we’re hoping that fall fishing will be plentiful and we’ll be able to try it alla Genovese with flounder and sea trout.
Tutti a tavola è pronto!
Un caro saluto e alla prossima.
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tuna steaks, about 6 ounces each, cut 1 inch or thicker
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, spread on wax paper for dredging
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 3/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup warm water
- 6 large garlic cloves
- 2 anchovy fillets, drained and chopped
- 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 springs thyme
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
- Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon salt over the tuna steaks. Dredge each steak in the flour, coating both sides. Shake off the flour.
- Pour 4 Tablespoons of olive oil into a large skillet and set it over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, lay all the tuna in the pan, and sauté on the first side for about 1 minute, just until browned. Flip the steaks over, and brown the second side another minute or so. Take the pan off the heat. transfer the tuna to a platter and keep warm while you make the sauce.
- Take the rehydrated porcini pieces from the soaking water and reserve the water. Pour the porcini water through a coffee filter or fine sieve to remove any sediment. Finely chop the porcini.
- Pour 2 Tablespoons olive oil into the skillet, set it over medium-high heat, toss in the garlic cloves, then stir in the anchovy and the porcini. The anchovy will melt into the oil. Cook and stir until everything is sizzling nicely, then pour in the white wine, lemon juice, and porcini water. Add the thyme sprigs and season with the remaining salt. Bring the sauce to a boil. Cook until reduced by half.
- When the sauce has thickened, arrange the tuna steaks in the skillet again, and pour in any juices from the platter. Heat for a minute in the bubbling sauce, then turn the steaks over and cook briefly on the second side The tuna should still be rare at this point.
- Just before serving, drop the 2 Tablespoons butter into the pan in-between the tuna steaks, and stir it into the sauce. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley.
- Serve the steaks over pasta spooning sauce over them.
- Inspired by Lydia Bastianich's recipe Tuna Genovese Style
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