Last night I was invited to a dinner party at a girlfriend’s house. I have always known that she cooks well, but to my (everybody’s) surprise, her new boy friend can cook even better! Hot tuna salad with basil crème fraîche á la Jamie, he called the dish. It was a very good dish! And of course I checked the recipe to share with you all.
What you need:
- a bunch of asparagus, trimmed
- 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes, quartered
- a large bunch of fresh basil (leaves picked, baby leaves kept to one side)
- a handful of black olives, stones removed
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tuna steaks
- 2 tablespoons crème fraîche
What to do:
- Heat a griddle pan until it gets really hot then put your asparagus in it.
- Place a heavy saucepan on top so that it presses the spears right down on to the bars.
- Cook them for 2 minutes, turning them halfway through, until they have lovely charred marks.
- Pop the asparagus on a board and chop them in half at an angle.
- Put the asparagus in a bowl with your tomatoes, half the basil leaves, the olives, a splash of oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Season them, then toss it all together and put it to one side while you get the fish ready.
- Rub your tuna steaks with a little bit of oil and season them.
- Sear your tuna steaks for about a minute on each side in the griddle pan for a rare steak – leave them for 2 minutes on each side if you prefer them cooked medium, or 3 to 4 minutes each side if you like them well done.
- Pound the remaining basil in a pestle and mortar then mix in the crème fraîche.
- Season the basil and add some more lemon juice to taste.
- Put the salad on a plate, then tear the tuna into strips and pop them on top.
- Spoon over some of the crème fraîche sauce and scatter over the baby basil leaves.
Have a great dinner party on your own and bon apetit!
7th February, 2010 ♦ 
