Tuna Steaks With Fennel
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1leek, white and light green parts only, cut in half lengthwise, cleaned, and thinly sliced
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 2pounds fennel, trimmed, quartered, cored and cut across the grain into thin slices
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1½pounds albacore tuna steaks
- 1 to 2tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
335 calories; 8 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 8 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 45 grams protein; 1003 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the leek and cook, stirring, until leeks are limp, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until the mixture is fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Add the fennel and a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook slowly for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the lemon juice, taste and adjust seasonings. The mixture should be very soft.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, season the albacore steaks with salt and pepper and heat the remaining olive oil in another pan over medium-high heat. Sear the albacore steaks for 30 seconds on each side. Place on top of the fennel. Cover the pan, turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the fish is cooked through.
- Step 3
Sprinkle on the parsley and serve, laying the fish on top of the fennel, with lemon wedges on the side.
- Advance preparation: You can cook the fennel up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate. Bring back to a simmer in the skillet, add the albacore fillets and proceed with the recipe.
Private Notes
Comments
I agree. Somethings not quite on here. Maybe it's just us but mushy vegetables aren't popular in my family. Forty minutes is an awfully long time to be cooking something tender and that lovely fennel flavor declined. I say sauté it for five minutes then put the lid on the pan while you sear the fish. After ten minutes from start, add the fish to the fennel and cook it until it's done - ten to fifteen minutes more depending on the thickness of your fish.
Very good, will put into the weeknight rotation. I picked up a lot of good advice from the comments, in particular those about cooking time. My own thoughts - there wasn't a benefit from adding the tuna to the veg. Flavor before and after adding it was pretty much the same. Next time I will just cook the veg (yum) and leave it be, and do the tuna to completion in its own pan for a better sear while cooking through.
This recipe was great, but two slight confusions:
1. Ingredients call for 2 T of oil, but Step 1 says "heat the olive oil..." and then Step 2 tells you to "heat the remaining olive oil..." She probably meant use 1 T of oil in Step 1 and the other one in Step 2.
2. In Step 2, you sear the tuna in another pan, then put it on top of the fennel, which has been cooking for 40 minutes on low heat. But Step 2 says "turn the heat [of the pan with the fennel] down to medium-low." It was already on low!
The tuna came out perfectly cooked, but the extra lemon juice and salt were definitely needed. Since it’s a tad bland I’d serve it with something rich like a potato gratin or a risotto.
Made this with tuna (we are living on the Croatian coast and it's tuna season) and it was excellent. I doubled the leek-fennel mix, however, and we grilled the tuna instead of cooking it stove-top. Still worked beautifully.
This was delicious and easy! I didn't have fennel so I used two big onions instead and it was fantastic. My entire family, including teenage children, ate it happily. Yes, letting the onions caramelize takes some time, but it is easy work that can be enjoyed with a glass of wine and some good music, and on a Friday evening I had the time. Next time I will not simmer the fish and vegetables together at the end quite so long.
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