Some friends of ours came over for dinner the other night and we made broccoli and cheddar soup with mustard croutons, followed by seared tuna steaks with puttanesca vegetables. The next day one friend sent a message to say that it was possibly the best meal he had ever eaten. I had to agree – this is a simple and quick but absolutely delicious combination that serves as an everyday meal as much as dinner party fare.
Puttanesca is rumoured to be named after Italian ‘women of the night’, for reasons no-one is really quite sure of. There are many different varieties of puttanesca, most of which serve as pasta sauces or contain pasta. I really prefer to cook without grains for my family and I wanted to add olives and red pepper and use fresh tomatoes, so this is my version. It may be different to other versions you’ve tried, but I promise that it is really delicious.
Recipe tips
You can use whatever colour pepper you prefer, or have at home. Small children do not always love the strong taste of capers and olives are quite salty, so I have erred on the side of caution and added less than I might do for adults. You can add extra capers and olives to taste or heap some extra onto the adults’ plates, either way will work just fine. The lemon butter sauce does add quite a bit of fat, so if you are on a low-fat diet a little freshly squeezed lemon juice will give almost the same effect.
Ingredients
For the puttanesca
1 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots or 1/2 onion, chopped
1 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1/2 tbsp chopped capers
30 g (1/4 c) kalamata olives.
250 g (1 c) tomatoes, roughly chopped
For the tuna
2 tbsp olive oil
2 small tuna steaks
Black pepper
Squeeze of lime
1 knob of butter
Sqeeze of lemon
Method
1. Heat oil in a pan add the shallots or onion and cook on medium heat until soft.
2. Add garlic, red pepper, capers and olives, stir and cook until pepper softens.
3. Stir in chopped tomatoes, reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Heat half of the oil on a skillet. Drizzle tuna steaks with the rest of the oil, season with black pepper (skip black pepper for small children, you could add it afterwards if needed) and add them to the hot skillet.
5. Squeeze fresh lime over the steaks & cook for up to 2 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the steak and the heat of the skillet. Be careful not to overcook, or all of the inner juices will dry out.
6. Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan. Take it off the heat, add lemon juice and stir.
7. Remove the tuna steaks from the pan, drizzle with the lemon butter and serve with the puttanesca.
Preparation: 10 mins | Cooking time: 20 min | Servings: 2-3
hello guys,
Recently discovered your website and have been giving your recipes a go, some of which have been recieved with great enthusiasm by my 22 month old pickiest-of-the-picky eaters and some flatly rejected..am still trying and my husband and i love your recipes any way, what a wonderful initiative and thanks so much for sharing all these recipes!
also wanted to ask, as i come from a liitle island nation where tuna of all kinds are the staple food, if you could share more tuna recipes? we mostly tend to use skipjack tuna cans which are caught by pole and line fishing or store bought ‘fresh’ yellow fin tuna here. would be great if you could suggest some recipes for these 🙂
best wishes xx
Hi Nahza!
Thank you so much for leaving a comment, we love to hear from people who read and use our blog. We love constructive feedback too – which are his favourites? We will definitely bear your request for tuna in mind. Fresh isn’t so available here in Sweden so it is very expensive and I try to get fresh to avoid the Bisphenol A in canned foods. But I do love it! Meanwhile if you haven’t already visit our Facebook page: and you can keep up with our recipes there.
Thank you again and please stay in touch!