Oven-Baked Tuna with a Savory Topping Recipe | Cook the Book

By
Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee: Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee started working at Serious Eats as an intern in 2007. Until she left the site in 2014, she held a variety of titles such as editorial assistant, photographer, editor of A Hamburger Today, visual editor, and doodler.
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Updated Aug. 09, 2018

This recipe for Oven-Baked Tuna with Savory Topping caught my eye as I was paging through Nancy Harmon Jenkins's Cucina del Sole. It's a recipe that really seems of a place--southern Italy--with its olives, capers, basil, and cherry tomatoes--instead of just another generic baked tuna dish.

Recipe Facts

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Total: 30 mins
Serves: 2 servings
Makes: 1 tuna steak

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Ingredients

  • 1 fresh tuna steak, about 3/4 inch thick (about 1 pound)

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1 teaspoon crushed dried red chile

  • 6 black olives, preferably salt-cured, pitted

  • 1 tablespoon capers, preferably salt·packed, rinsed and drained

  • 5 or 6 large fresh basil leaves

  • 16 to 20 ripe cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped

  • 2 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  2. Pat the tuna steak dry. Spread a little of the olive oil over the bottom of an oven dish in which the tuna will fit comfortably and set the steak in the dish. Smear a little more oil over the top of the steak and sprinkle on the salt and chili.

  3. Chop together the black olives, capers, and basil to make a coarse, crumbly mixture. Pile this on top of the tuna and then add the chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the tomatoes and dribble the remaining oil over the top.

  4. Transfer the dish to the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tuna is done to taste. (In southern Italy, tuna is almost always cooked well done, but Americans may prefer it with a streak of raw in the middle.)

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
406 Calories
17g Fat
12g Carbs
51g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 406
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 17g 21%
Saturated Fat 3g 13%
Cholesterol 77mg 26%
Sodium 873mg 38%
Total Carbohydrate 12g 4%
Dietary Fiber 3g 10%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 51g
Vitamin C 20mg 99%
Calcium 51mg 4%
Iron 3mg 16%
Potassium 1235mg 26%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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