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You will find versions of this dish in many restaurants in Italy, especially in the south. Now you can duplicate the dish at home. The capacious 15.75” Oval Skillet allows the steaks to be cooked in one layer. Depending on their size you might fit two additional steaks to serve 6 people. Just add a bit more of each of the other ingredients. As for cooking time, measure the tuna steaks at their thickest and allow 10 minutes of cooking per inch. That’s a good rule to remember when cooking whole fish , fillets or steaks.
4 large tuna steaks
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. red ripe tomatoes or, out-of-season, use a 16 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 sprigs rosemary
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves torn in bite-sized pieces
1/2 to 1/3 cup diced pitted black olives (such as kalamata) or green olives (or a combination of both)
2 tbsp. capers, drained then rinsed and drained again
Sea salt (preferably Trapini from Sicily)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tbsp. breadcrumbs
Preheat the oven to 350°. Rinse the tuna and remove any skin and pat dry with paper towels.
Measure 2 tablespoons of the oil and add to the skillet tilting to coat the bottom. Place the tuna steaks on the pan bottom in one layer.
Peel the tomatoes using a serrated soft-fruit peeler or by immersing them in boiling water for 30 seconds and then lifting off the skin with a paring knife. Core and halve the tomatoes, removing the seeds. Cut the flesh into small pieces.
Add these to the pan together with the rosemary, basil, olive pieces, and the capers (chop these if large). Sprinkle evenly with a bit of salt and several twists of the pepper mill. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the pan contents.
Place the pan in the middle of the oven and cook according to the thickness of the steaks. Remove the rosemary sprigs and serve from the skillet spooning some of the sauce over each portion.
Serves 4 but can easily be scaled up to serve 6 or 8.
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