Tuna with Olives, Tomato, and Herbs and Broccoli - Bell Pepper Gratin

Hello again, everybody, and welcome to Cèpage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s wine and food blog.  Today, we’re sharing a dish we discovered when shopping at a seafood wholesaler here in Jackson.  The original version is by Emeril Lagasse.  Mary modified it to suit our preferences.  It’s easy, satisfying, delicious, and different.  It takes a wonderful and nutritious food, fresh tuna, and dresses it up.  The vegetable side dish transforms fresh broccoli and bell pepper into a fantastic side dish.  Here’s Mary to talk about the preparation.

I love this tuna recipe because it’s fast and delicious.  Start with high quality fresh fish, of course.  The ingredients for the sauce are onions, garlic, plum tomatoes, pitted Kalamata olives, a few anchovy fillets, basil, parsley, and oregano.  

The seasoning is just grocery store seasoning mix.



Onions are sautéed in olive oil, then the other ingredients are added and cooked for 15 minutes.  Butter is added at the end and melted into the mixture.



Ingredients sauteed and mixed.



Butter adds richness and body.

The recipe calls for pan-frying the tuna, but we prefer grilling it outdoors.  Brian handles that.  For tuna steaks about an inch thick, 4 to 4 ½ minutes on each side over medium high heat will give you nice medium or medium rare tuna.  Spoon the tomato/olive mixture over the tuna.

I prepared a side dish of broccoli-bell pepper gratin, which baked while I made the sauce for the tuna. The gratin dish is quick and easy!  Steam the broccoli, then toss with a sliced bell pepper that was sautéed in a little olive oil.

The vegetables are put into a casserole dish, topped with a mixture of bread crumbs and generous (of course!) freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese (not the green can!), and baked for 15 minutes.


Ready for baking



Hot out of the oven

Here's Brian on the wine. I think this wine cries out for Pinot Noir.  Pinot Noir!  Pinot Noir!  Can you hear it?  It is powerful enough to stand up to the complex flavors of the dish, but delicate enough that it integrates without dominating.  The wine I chose was a Russian River Valley Pinot by Kathleen Inman.  For those of you in Sonoma County, Olivet Grange Vineyard is right at the intersection of Olivet Road and Piner Road in Santa Rosa.  Kathleen is a believer in elegance, finesse, and balance.  She picks earlier than many California producers, so her wine is more feminine and understated, not too high in alcohol.  She encourages enjoying her wines in their youth in order to enjoy their vibrant fruit and freshness.   Here are my notes on the wine.

This wine is very solid, varietally correct, elegant, and balanced.  It is a pretty medium ruby in the glass, not inky dark.  It is nicely aromatic of cherry and earth notes.  The palate is completely smooth with medium to medium-minus acidity, well balanced, with cherry and spice notes.  I would describe it as a moderately complex wine, but the texture and balance are what make it such a pleasure to drink.  14.0% alcohol.  It is a terrific value at $20.

That’s it!  Dinner is served! 

Fresh, delicious, nutritious.

That’s our post for today.  Thanks for reading us!  Come back again for more wine and food adventures at Cèpage et Cuisine.

Cheers!

Mary♥Brian