Grilled Tuna with Turkish Red Pepper Walnut Pureé

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Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean, Turkish

Keywords Gluten Free

Difficulty Easy

Servings people

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 15

Total Time 35

Inspiration

Susan Spicer's Crescent City Cooking

This red pepper walnut sauce, adapted from Susan Spicer's cookbook, is a version of muhamarra, which is a spicy but fresh Turkish red pepper sauce. The pureé goes well with almost any meat of fish, as well as vegetables like zucchini, squash, and eggplant. This recipe is quite easy to prepare and makes for a great midweek meal. You can often substitute Chilean seabass for the tuna, but any meaty fish works well. Serve with brown rice and/or alongside some zucchini and yellow squash, grilled eggplant, or broccoli rabe.

Servings: people

Calories: 376kcal

Ingredients

2 red bell peppers halved
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
4 pieces yellowfin or ahi tuna (6-8 oz each)
1/4 cup walnuts toasted
3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 to 1 1/2 lemons)
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp sunflower or safflower oil

Instructions

Roast the Bell Peppers

Place the bell pepper halves skin side up directly on a grill over a low flame or on a baking sheet under the broiler at about 500°F. Char until they are evenly blackened, turning or rotating the pan as necessary.
Place the peppers into plastic ziploc bags, seal, and let steam for about 10 minutes. Remove the smoky skin from the peppers, and seed and chop them.

Tuna and Red Pepper Sauce

Lightly toast 1/2 tsp of the cumin seeds, the fennel seeds and coriander seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant but not smoking, about 2 minutes, shaking occasionally. Grind the toasted spices in a spice grinder. Mix with the salt and pepper.
Season the tuna pieces all over with the spice blend. Toast the walnuts in the dry skillet.
Combine the bell peppers, walnuts, lemon juice, garlic, pomegranate molasses, remaining 1/2 tsp cumin, and crushed red pepper flakes in a food processor. Pulse on an off for about 1 minute until coarsely ground. With the processor running on low, slowly drizzle in the 1/2 cup of olive oil until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Heat the 2 Tbsp of sunflower oil in a large skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the tuna and listen for the sear. If it doesn't sear, it's not hot enough. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side. The tuna should be rare to medium-rare.
Plate the tuna with a spoonful of the sauce spread over the top. Serve with extra sauce on the side.

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