Seared Tuna with White Beans & Olive Tapenade

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 80 g pitted black olives
• 2 tbsp capers, drained
• 2 anchovy fillets
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 fresh tuna steaks, about 180g each, 2cm thick
• 1 x 400g tin white beans, drained and rinsed
• salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 60 g rocket
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve
• Fresh basil, to serve
• lemon-dressed green salad, to serve
• roasted cherry tomatoes, to serve

Method

1. Make the tapenade first so the flavours have a few minutes to settle. Tip the olives, capers, anchovies and minced garlic into a small processor with the extra virgin olive oil and pulse to a coarse paste — you want texture, not a smooth purée. The garlic is going in raw here, so mince it finely; if it looks chunky, give it another quick pulse so no one bites into a hot raw nugget.
2. Stir a good squeeze of lemon juice through the tapenade and crack in plenty of black pepper. Taste it. It almost certainly won't need salt — the olives, capers and anchovies are doing that job — but check, because tinned anchovies vary wildly.
3. Tip the drained white beans into a bowl, spoon in 1 tablespoon of the tapenade and add a splash of lemon juice. Mix gently so the beans stay whole. Taste, season, taste again — adjust the salt now, not at the table.
4. Pat the tuna steaks completely dry with kitchen paper. Water means steam, and steam means no crust. Season generously on both sides with salt and black pepper, pressing it in so it sticks.
5. Heat the olive oil in a heavy stainless or cast iron pan over your highest heat until it is properly smoking — wisps rising, the oil shimmering and almost moving on its own. This is non-negotiable for a good crust. Don't crowd the pan; if your pan is on the smaller side, sear the steaks one at a time rather than fighting for space.
6. Lay the tuna in away from you and don't move it. Sear for 60–90 seconds per side for medium-rare — you're looking for a dark mahogany crust and a centre that's still deep pink, almost raw. Lift onto a board immediately. Tuna carries on cooking off the heat faster than you'd think, and grey tuna is sad tuna.
7. Arrange the rocket and dressed white beans across two plates. Slice the tuna against the grain into thick pieces — you'll see the muscle lines clearly, cut across them — and lay over the beans.
8. Spoon more tapenade over the tuna, tuck the roasted cherry tomatoes alongside with the lemon-dressed green salad, and finish each plate with a lemon wedge for squeezing at the table.