Slow-Baked Bluefin Tuna With Summer Vegetables

Ingredients

Pistou Vinaigrette
1 large head garlic
Salt
1 teaspoon butter
1 cup packed basil leaves
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Summer Vegetables
1 zucchini, cut into 1⁄4-inch dice
1 yellow squash, cut into 1⁄4-inch dice
1⁄2 cup peeled, de-germed fava beans
1⁄2 cup shucked English peas
2 bunches hon-shimeji (beech) mushrooms, bases removed (enoki can be substituted)
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt
Sugar
2 teaspoons butter
6 sweet carrots, peeled, cut into 1⁄4-inch dice
12 red pearl onions, peeled, with an X cut into the root ends
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 yellow teardrop tomatoes, halved
2 1⁄2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Tuna
2 10-ounce pieces of bluefin tuna, cut into 1 1⁄2-by-1 1⁄2-by-4-inch rectangular blocks (the tuna should be as free of sinew as possible)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fleur de sel

Instructions

Pistou Vinaigrette
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Season garlic with salt, wrap in aluminum foil with butter, and roast for 1 to 2 hours, or until soft. While it is still warm, scrape the softened garlic through a fine sieve, discarding the skins.

Blanch the basil in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes, chill in an ice bath, and drain well. Purée the basil in a blender, and strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Whisk in 2 teaspoons of the roasted-garlic purée. Mix in the olive oil, but do not emulsify—this is a “broken” vinaigrette.

Summer Vegetables
Blanch zucchini and yellow squash in boiling salted water for 30 seconds, drain, and chill in an ice-water bath. Drain, and set aside. Repeat with the fava beans, blanching until tender, then the peas.

Heat oil in a small pan, add mushrooms, and lightly sauté until golden brown; set aside to cool. Bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil with a pinch of sugar and 1 teaspoon butter; add the carrots, and cook until they are still slightly crisp. Drain, and set aside. Put the pearl onions in a small saucepan, cover with salted water, add a pinch of sugar and 1 teaspoon butter, and cook until the onions are soft. Remove, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the vegetables, vinegar, and olive oil. Add parsley just before serving.

Tuna
Reduce oven to 200 degrees, double-checking the temperature with a thermometer. Coat the tuna with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place in an oiled, 2-inch-deep Pyrex dish, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Bake for 20 minutes, turning occasionally, making sure the tuna does not change color—it should retain its red color and appear raw. (Don’t worry: The plastic wrap won’t melt at this temperature.) Remove from oven, cut crosswise into 3⁄8-inch-thick slices, and season with fleur de sel.

To Serve
Place sliced tuna on a mound of summer vegetables, surrounded with a drizzle of pistou vinaigrette. Can be served warm or at room temperature. (Published 2004)