Ventresca Tuna Salad

I own the cookbook The Young Man and the Sea, published in 2007. I guess at some point, even though I live in a landlocked state, I decided I needed to learn more about cooking seafood. I had never heard of the author, David Pasternack, who is the Chef of the “seafood mecca” Esca in New York City, which he opened in 2000.

There are so many great recipes in the book for seafood, divided by the style of cooking, like grilled or roasted, and the type of dish, like pasta or soup.

Here’s a great review from none other than Anthony Bourdain: “If I were strapped in the electric chair and facing a last meal of a sea creature, I would pray that Dave would be cooking it.”

The recipe I chose is a tuna belly salad – perfect for a picnic! A method of slow-poaching the tuna belly in olive oil is used in this recipe; it isn’t seared as one would expect. The chef also stores the poached tuna and its oil in canning jars to preserve it, just like “the Italians have done for a thousand years.”

“Just bring it to room temperature before you use it. You can even serve it warm – chunks of it over spaghetti with black olives and some of the oil, or with a white bean salad. Or over ripe tomatoes. But the important thing to remember is that tuna cooked this way is no good piping hot or ice cold.”

Unfortunately I couldn’t find actual Ventresca for this recipe, but these tuna steaks worked great. Of course you can buy (pre-cooked) canned tuna belly, like I show below, but I was exited to try out the slow oil-poaching technique with fresh tuna.

Ventresca Tuna Salad

1 1/2 pounds fresh tuna, preferably yellowfin or albacore belly cut
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large cloves garlic, smashed
1 1/3 cups extra-virgin olive, plus additional
3 sprigs lemon thyme or plain thyme plus 1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 bay leaves
4 large salted anchovies (I used regular anchovies in oil)
3/4 pound fingerling potatoes (I used mini reds)
1 pound fresh green beans
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup lovage or inner leaves from celery, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

Cut the tuna into 1 1/2-inch chunks. Season well with salt and pepper. Place in a saucepan with the garlic and add 1 cup of oil, so the tuna is just covered (adjust the olive oil amount if necessary).

Over a low flame, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, taking care that the oil does not boil. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon thyme and bay leaves and set aside to cool to room temperature.

The tuna can be used at this point but will be better if allowed to marinate. Transfer the contents of the pan to a medium bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature at least an hour before serving.

Soak the salt-packed anchovies in water for 2 hours and drain. Remove the bones, cut anchovies into 1/2-inch pieces, and toss with a little olive oil. (Mine are boneless and unsalted.)

Place the potatoes in a pot of salted water, bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and halve lengthwise. Place in a large bowl.

Meanwhile, bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil, and prepare a bowl of ice water. Add the beans to the water and cook until tender 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and place in the ice water. When cool, drain again and pat dry on paper towels. (I steamed my green beans.)

Add the cooked beans to the bowl with the potatoes along with the anchovies, onion, parsley, and lovage.

Drain the tuna, reserving the oil. Break the pieces of fish into smaller pieces and add to the bowl.

In a small bowl, beat the vinegar with the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of the tuna’s cooking oil. Season with additional salt and pepper, then pour the dressing over the tuna and beans.

Toss gently but thoroughly.

Serve in wide shallow bowls.

Or eat it out of the serving bowl like I did. I just couldn’t wait. It is so so good. I’ll agree with Anthony Bourdain on this chef’s expertise with seafood.