Griddled Tuna Salad with Bruschetta

Griddled/grilled tuna fillet slices with a simple salad and bruschetta

This is a super quick to make as well as delicious and healthy meal, perfect for a weeknight when you're perhaps tired and can't face spending a great deal of time in the kitchen. It's ready to eat from starting the prep to finish in an absolute maximum of fifteen minutes.

Ingredients (Serves 1)

6 ounce, 1 inch thick tuna loin steak
Vegetable or sunflower oil
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling bruschetta
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves, 1 for salad and 1 for bruschetta
Generous handful of mixed supermarket green leaf salad
1 cheesy bread roll

Starting to griddle oiled tuna fillet

Directions

Bring a ridged griddle/grill pan up to a smoking hot heat. This will take around three to four minutes. While the pan is heating up, oil the tuna steak all over. A pastry brush is perfect for performing this task. Season the fillet lightly with salt and pepper. Lay the fillet carefully in the pan to fry for an initial three minutes.

Mixed supermarket salad

This supermarket salad was a mixture of different green leaves, cucumber, red bell pepper slices and sweetcorn. You really can use however whatever salad mix you prefer.

Tuna fillet is turned in griddle pan

Turn the tuna fillet with cooking tongs to fry for three minutes on the second side.

Salad is gently stirred through dressing

Mix the tablespoon of olive oil and the lemon juice in a large bowl. Grate in the peeled second garlic clove, season with salt and pepper and stir again. Add the salad leaves and stir fold or toss through the simple dressing.

Griddled tuna fillet is rested

Lift the tuna fillet to a chopping board and leave it to rest for a few minutes while you prepare the bruschetta.

Cheesy bread roll

This is roll was made with cheese and had extra cheese toasted on the top but you can use a plain bread roll if you prefer. Cut in half horizontally and toast lightly on both sides.

Toasted roll halves and garlic clove

Peel the second garlic clove and lightly crush. Rub it over the cut sides of the hot toasted rolls. Drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Salad and bruschetta are plated

Arrange the salad in the form of a bed for the tuna on a serving plate. Lay a slice of bruschetta on either side.

Tucking in to tuna salad with bruschetta

Slice the tuna steak across the grain with a cleaver or very sharp knife. Lay the slices attractively on the salad bed and serve immediately.

Fusilli Pasta with Sausages and Bruschetta

Cheesy fusilli pasta, tomato sauce and cocktail sausages with bruschetta

If spag bol and macaroni cheese are the limits of your experiences with pasta, there can be little doubt that you are missing out on many of the endless, tasty possibilities afforded by this incredibly versatile foodstuff. While plain pasta and nothing else would of course represent a pretty bland meal, the number of other ingredients that go with pasta to form quick, easy, often healthy meals is limited only by our own imaginations and levels of inventiveness. It can also be a great accompaniment for using up leftovers, as was the case here with the mini cocktail sausages. I hope you'll give this dish - or something like it - a try.

Measuring out fusilli pasta

Ingredients per Person

1 coffee mug of dried fusilli pasta
Salt
10 mini cocktail sausages
Vegetable oil for frying
8 ounce can chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
2 garlic cloves - 1 peeled and grated for sauce, 1 peeled and crushed for bruschetta
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling on bruschetta
Generous pinch dried oregano
Generous pinch dried basil
Black pepper
2 ounces cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
1 sun dried tomato ciabatta bread roll, halved horizontally
Rolled and sliced basil leaves to garnish

Fusilli pasta added to boiling, salted water

When cooking pasta, there is a common myth that adding olive oil to the water will stop the pasta sticking together. In fact, it does nothing of the sort - the oil simply floats on top of the water and represents nothing more than a waste of oil. In order to stop pasta sticking together, the key is to have plenty of water in the pan to dilute the starch. The water should also be very heavily salted. Add the pasta to rapidly boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for ten minutes.

Frying mini cocktail sausages in oil

Gently fry the cocktail sausages in a little vegetable oil for seven or eight minutes until done, while the pasta is simmering.

Fusilli pasta is thoroughly drained

Drain the pasta through a colander or sieve and add temporarily to a small bowl or deep plate.

Drained fusilli pasta and cocktail sausages are set aside

Drain the cocktail sausages on kitchen paper and set aside with the pasta.

Grated garlic clove and olive oil

Pour the olive oil in to a saucepan and add the grated garlic. Fry very gently for thirty seconds or so.

Canned tomatoes and herbs are added to garlic infused oil

Pour the tomatoes in to the saucepan and season with the basil, oregano and black pepper. Bring to a simmer for about five minutes, stirring frequently.

Fusilli pasta and cocktail sausages are added to tomato sauce

Add the pasta and sausages to the sauce, carefully fold through and simmer for a couple of minutes until fully reheated. Put your grill/broiler on to preheat to maximum.

Fusili pasta and cocktail sausages in tomato sauce added to serving dish

Pour the pasta and sauce mix in to a suitable dish and scatter with the grated cheese.

Grated cheese scattered over tomato pasta and sausages

Put the dish under your grill to melt the cheese.

Sun dried tomato ciabatta roll

Lightly toast the cut ciabatta roll under the grill when you have removed and plated the pasta dish (be sure to lift the dish using oven gloves!)

Cheese melted over tomato pasta and sausages

Rub the cut sides of the toast with the crushed garlic clove, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Toasted ciabatta ready to be rubbed with garlic and oiled

Cut each slice of bread in half diagonally.

Sun dried tomato ciabatta bruschetta

Garnish the pasta with the chopped basil leaves.

Basil is scattered over the cheesy tomato fusilli and sausages

Plate the bruschetta with the pasta and tuck in.

Tucking in to fusilli pasta with sausages and bruschetta

Pan Fried Herring Fillets on Bruschetta with Summer Salad

Herring are a late spring and summer fish here in the UK and with summer (hopefully) on its way, herring are starting to appear more frequently in supermarkets and fishmongers, albeit very much the smaller ones for now. This recipe for one includes two small herring, from which the two side loin fillets have been cut and pan fried.
 

Ingredients per Serving

4 small herring loin fillets
1 small tomato
2" piece of cucumber
2 garlic cloves (1 for salad, 1 for bruschetta)
8 to 10 pitted black olives
Handful of fresh rocket/arugula
1" thick slice of farmhouse bread
Extra virgin olive oil
Flour for dusting fillets
1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 or 3 basil leaves to garnish

Directions

It is advisable to begin by preparing the salad. Chop the tomato in to six wedges and the cucumber in to six even sized pieces. Peel the garlic clove. Add the tomato and cucumber to a small bowl with the olives and grate in the garlic clove. Pour in some extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and stir well. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until required.

Use a proper filleting knife to take the fillets off each side of the two herring. If you wish, you could ask your supermarket assistant/fishmonger to do this for you.

Scatter some flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Wash any blood and innards from the fillets in cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper. Pat the skin side only in the flour and shake off the excess.

Add some vegetable oil to a frying pan and fry the herring fillets on the skin side until you can see they are almost done. This will only take a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and turn the fillets over to complete cooking while you toast the bread.

Toast the bread on both sides until nicely golden. Peel and crush the second garlic clove and rub it over what will be the top side of the toast. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Lay the bruschetta on a serving plate. Arrange the rocket/arugula alongside and spoon on the salad mixture.

Carefully place the herring fillets on top of the bruschetta and garnish with some freshly torn basil leaves before serving.

Bavarian Smoked Ham, Egg and Beetroot Salad with Tomato and Mozzarella Bruschetta

Bruschetta is an incredibly simple Italian creation, intended as a starter or appetizer. Bruschetta is frequently served with a wide variety of accompaniments but perhaps less often as part of a main course. I thought that as we in the Northern Hemisphere move towards summer and many people start thinking of simple summer salads for dinner at night, it may be worth including here a quick, easy and delicious idea for incorporating bruschetta as a part of a simple and tasty salad meal.

Ingredients per Serving

3 or 4 wafer thin slices of Bavarian smoked ham or similar
3 lettuce leaves
1/2 small white onion
3 small slices crusty bread
1 egg
1 garlic clove
1 small cooked beetroot
3 slices of tomato
3 slices of soft buffalo mozzarella
2 fresh basil leaves
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Please note that it is imperative that you do not attempt to boil your egg straight from the refrigerator. Whatever way you are cooking eggs, for best results, the eggs should always be removed from the refrigerator a couple of hours before cooking in order that they may reach room temperature. This is particularly important when boiling eggs. Click here for some useful tips on boiling eggs which may help you achieve top results every time.

Put the egg in to a small pot and add enough cold water to comfortably cover it. Put it on to a high heat until the water begins to boil. Reduce the heat to achieve a simmer for six minutes.

While the egg is boiling, wash and roughly shred the lettuce leaves. Finely slice the onion half. Season with salt and pepper, mix together and place as a bed on one side of the serving plate. The Bavarian smoked ham slices should be rolled up and laid on top of the lettuce and onion.

When the egg has been simmering for six minutes, put the pot in to the sink and run cold water in to it for around thirty seconds. Lift the egg out with your hand and crack the shell all around by gently tapping it on a hard surface. Carefully peel the egg under running cold water and discard the shell. Put the egg in a bowl of cold water to cool it quickly while the bruschetta is prepared. Cooling the egg quickly in this fashion will prevent the edges of the yolk from turning that distasteful bluish/black colour.

Bruschetta could not really be much simpler to make. The first step is to toast the slices of bread on both sides, under an overhead grill, until golden. While the bread is toasting, peel and lightly crush the garlic clove. Remove the toasted bread from under the grill and carefully rub each slice on top with the peeled garlic clove. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and plate.

Place a slice of mozzarella on top of each piece of bruschetta, followed by a slice of tomato. You may have to half the tomato slices, depending upon how big they are. Scatter with torn basil leaves.

Remove the egg from the cold water and pat dry with kitchen towel. Half it carefully and plate. The beetroot should only at this last minute be diced and arranged on the plate, to prevent its juices colouring other ingredients and affecting presentation.