Grilled Tuna with Parsley- Caper Sauce
I’ve talked before about how Hubs loves to fish. Some fishing trips have been fruitful, and some… not so much. He’s been on trips where he’s barely gotten a bite. But the last trip he went on, over Memorial Day, he came home with quite the haul. We had so much fish, we still have a few fillets in the freezer, and that was after giving several pounds to friends and family.
Hubs came back with bass, halibut, snapper and several different kids of tuna. While I don’t like all fish, I can’t get enough of halibut or tuna. I’ll eat them roasted, seared, fried or grilled. While I usually sear fish, grilling the halibut gave us a wonderful dinner full of rich, smokey flavor. After that, I knew grilling the tuna was the only way to go.
See, I was worried that grilling the fish would cause it to become flakey and fall apart. I was afraid a decent amount would fall through the grates and be left among the ashes, which is why I’ve never grilled fish before. But because the fillets were thick and more like steaks, they didn’t fall apart, and provided a very nice, filling dinner. Once I saw that the halibut could survive the grill, I knew the tuna could too. And that meant only one thing: whenever we decided to enjoy Hubs’ tuna, it was absolutely going to be grilled.
So, now that I knew how I was going to cook the fish, I needed to find a sauce or marinade for it. Luckily Fine Cooking came to my rescue with a savory parsley-caper sauce. The secret to the sauce? The anchovy paste. I know it seems odd adding fish to fish, but since anchovy paste is what makes Caesar dressing so good, I thought it was worth a shot. I was right. The anchovy paste added a great umami flavor that gave the whole dish a depth worthy of a nice dinner out. It was so good in fact, I can’t wait to make it again. And the good news is, I still have a few tuna steaks left, which means only one thing: this grilled tuna will be gracing my table at least one more time before the summer ends.
Notes
Adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained, rinsed and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
- 4 tuna steaks
Instructions
- Mash together the zest, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a mortar and pestle until a paste forms. Transfer the paste to a bowl and whisk in the lemon juice, anchovy paste, capers and oil until combined. Stir in the parsley and set aside.
- Preheat the grill to 400 degrees F.
- Brush the tuna with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the tuna until medium-rare, about 2 minutes per side.
- Transfer the steaks to a serving platter, top with the parsley sauce and serve with lemon wedges on the side.
