Roasted Lemon Tuna Marinade

When I was cutting this tuna, John glanced over and wondered when I snuck out and bought some watermelon.  That's how beautiful and red it was.  It cut so smoothly too.  I just knew it was going to be good.  Naturally, we picked it up at the farmers market, and it was beyond fresh. 

For some reason, I'm not particularly drawn to tuna, but they didn't have any halibut for sale and we had some salmon in the freezer.  John loves tuna and I figured I would throw him a bone and let us get tuna.  I'm happy I did too, because it allowed me to try this new recipe, which was amazing.  It was light and flavorful and paired perfectly with the tuna.  Plus I got to roast lemons, which I've never done (or even thought to do).

 

To start, cut 5 or 6 lemons in half and place them cut-side up in a small pan.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Turn on your broiler (I turned mine down to 400 degrees instead of leaving it at 500) and place the lemons about 6 inches beneath it.  Roast for 20 minutes until slightly charred and very soft.  

 

Let the lemons cool a bit and then squeeze them through a mesh strainer or something similar into a small bowl.  If you don't have time to let the lemons cool, you will be like me and grabbing these hot little guys with a towel.  Push all of the pulp through the strainer, but be careful to keep the seeds out.  Pour any juices that collected at the bottom of the pan into the bowl.  

 

To the lemon juice add in 4 cloves of chopped or pressed garlic, 1/3 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves, and 2/3 cup olive oil.  

 

Whisk it together until everything is well incorporated.

 

 

Cut 4 ahi tuna steaks (roughly 5 oz. each) into one-inch cubes.  Try to remind yourself it isn't watermelon.

 

Either place all the tunas on skewers and brush with the marinade or dip each piece of tuna in the marinade and then place on the skewer.  Liberally dust with kosher salt and pepper. 

Grill until cooked to your liking.  Some people like pretty rare tuna, which would probably cook for about 3 minutes.  We cooked ours for about 8 minutes.  Great tuna plus a great marinade made for a great dinner.  We made waaay too much marinade for two people, so if you are making it for two people, cut it in half at least. 

Roasted Lemon Tuna Marinade
From Michael Chiarello


Serves 4

6 lemons, cut in 1/2
Kosher salt and ground pepper
4 cloves chopped garlic
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
4ahi tuna steaks (~5 oz. each), cut into 1 inch blocks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat broiler.   Place 6 lemons, cut-side up, in a small, non-aluminum baking dish.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.  Roast, 6 inches below broiler for 20 minutes until lemons become soft.  Let cool slightly in the baking dish.  Squeeze lemons into strainer above a small bowl.  Scrape pulp through strainer and add all the cooking juices from the baking dish into the bowl.  Add 4 cloves chopped garlic, 1/3 cup chopped rosemary and 2/3 cup olive oil to lemon juice.  Whisk together until combined.  This will keep up to 1 week if covered tightly and refrigerated.  Either dip each piece of tuna in marinade or skewer all pieces of tuna and then brush with marinade.  Season liberally with kosher salt and pepper.  Grill 3-10 minutes, depending on how well cooked you like your tuna.