Tuna Puttnesca

Puttanesca is that wonderful Italian invention named for the "ladies of the evening", and like it's namesake-it is cheap, easy, and seductive.  Usually it is tossed with pasta, but here I used it as a sort of sauce/relish for seared tuna and grilled bread.

First marinate the tuna with some garlic, oregano, rosemary, wine, lemon juice and a bit of olive oil overnight, or at least a couple of hours.

For the Puttanesca:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 anchovie fillets, minced
1 medium sized onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chopped Italian plum tomatoes, seeded and drained
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
1/4 cup Italian or Greek olives, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons capers
1 cup chopped artichoke hearts
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh Basil, chopped

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, and sauté the onions and anchovies until the anchovies dissolve and the onions are wilted and soft, about 5 or 6 minutes.

Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir cook for 2 minutes, stir in the remaining ingredients and heat through, adding more oil if it seems too dry.

Toss with hot pasta and serve or put it next to a seared tuna steak like I did here.

To Sear the tuna;
Get a sauté pan extremely hot, film the bottom lightly with oil and quickly sear both sides of the tuna very briefly-no more than 1 minute per side.

Thinly slice the tuna and serve with Puttanesca and grilled bread.

To grill the bread:
Thinly slice a baguette, rub the cut side of the bread with a crushed garlic clove and brush with olive oil, place on a hot grill and toast.