Grilled Tuna with Stuffed Baked Potato

Sliced tuna fillet with creamy stuffed baked potatoes and chickpeas

I love fresh tuna but tend perhaps to serve it most often with the likes of spicy salsa or a simple salad. On this occasion, I not only fancied a more substantial meal, I wanted to try out this new idea I had for making stuffed baked potatoes. The potato idea worked even better than I had expected and the combination equally proved a winner.

Potato is pierced and skewered prior to being baked

Ingredients (Serves 1)

1 large baking suitable potato
1 small egg
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley for potato stuffing and 1 teaspoon for chickpeas
Salt and white pepper
Small 6 ounce can chickpeas in water
6 ounce fresh tuna loin fillet
Vegetable oil
Black pepper

Potato is wrapped in foil for baking

Directions

Start your oven preheating to 450F/220C/Gas Mark 8.

Take a metal skewer and force it through the centre of the potato, length ways. Pierce the potato a few times with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape during baking. Wrap the potato loosely in some tinfoil to protect the skin from the heat and lay the package on a roasting tray. Place it in to your oven for one and a quarter hours.

Baked potato is unwrapped

Take the tray containing the baked potato from the oven and with your oven gloves, lift the potato parcel to a chopping board. Continuing to wear your oven gloves, carefully unwrap the foil, being aware that a lot of hot steam is likely to escape.

Skewer is removed from baked potato

The skewer should easily be able to be pulled cleanly free.

Baked potato is cut in half

You can either continue to use your gloves to hold the potato with one hand or do what I did and use several sheets of kitchen paper folded over several times while you cut the potato in half lengthways.

Flesh is scooped from potato halves with spoon

Sit the halves one at a time in the palm of your (still protected!) hand. Take a teaspoon and carefully spoon most of the flesh out and in to a bowl, leaving a core shell around half an inch (just over a centimetre) thick.

Potato flesh is added to mixing bowl with egg and parsley

Break the egg in to the bowl with the potato flesh and add the tablespoon of chopped parsley. Season with some salt and white pepper. You can use black pepper here if you wish but you may find some black specks spoiling the presentation of your served dish.

Potato stuffing ingredients are combined with a fork

A fork is best used to carefully combine all the filling ingredients together as you essentially have to mash the potato flesh.

Potatoes are carefully stuffed for further baking

Divide the filling between the two potato shell casings with a spoon. Lift them carefully back on to your roasting tray and put the tray back in to the oven for fifteen to twenty more minutes.

Chickpeas are gently heated

I drained the chickpeas through a colander at my sink and rinsed them under running cold water. This gets rid of all the chemical preservatives and impurities. I then added them to a pot of cold, slightly salted water and brought the water to a simmer for two or three minutes just to heat them through.

Starting to fry tuna loin

Bring your cast iron grill or griddle pan up to a smoking hot heat. This will take a few minutes. Oil the tuna fillet all over using a pastry brush and lightly season with salt and pepper. Lay the fillet carefully in to the hot pan and cook for two minutes.

Tuna fillet is turned in pan

Turn the tuna fillet with cooking tongs and cook for two minutes on the second side. Note that the tuna fillet should be left pink in the middle to avoid it drying out and becoming unpalatable.

Parsley is added to drained chickpeas

Drain the chickpeas through a colander at your sink and return them to the empty pot. Stir through the teaspoon of parsley.

Grilled tuna fillet is rested

Lift the tuna steak to a small plate or flat bottomed bowl and let it rest for a couple of minutes.

Stuffed and baked potato halves are plated

Take the potato halves from the oven and lift them to your serving plate with a spatula.

Tuna is sliced and added to serving plate

Slice the tuna fairly thickly across the grain on a chopping board with a very sharp knife. Arrange the slices between the potato halves.

Cutting in to soft and fluffy stuffed potato

Spoon the chickpeas around the tuna and potato halves and serve immediately.

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.