Name: Grilled tuna with blood orange, fennel and black olive dressing
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 21 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 750 gm piece skinless yellowfin tuna; Olive oil, for brushing and drizzling; 3 tsp fennel seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle; 3 blood oranges, rind of 1 finely grated, all peeled, thinly sliced and seeds removed; ½ head of radicchio, torn; 1 fennel bulb, shaved on a mandolin, fronds reserved; 1 large golden shallot, thinly sliced on a mandolin; 1 cup basil, plus extra to serve (firmly packed); Black olive dressing; 100 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 50 gm black olives, such as Gaeta, pitted; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste; 1 small garlic clove, crushed; ½ long red chilli, coarsely chopped; Finely grated rind of ½ blood orange and juice of 1; 2 tsp brown sugar

Grilled tuna with blood orange, fennel and black olive dressing

Blood oranges, if they're around, are beautiful here, but navels or even grapefruit work well.

Serves 4

Prep

15M

Cook

Total

21M

Blood oranges, if they’re around, are beautiful here, but navels or even grapefruit work well.

Ingredients

750 gm piece skinless yellowfin tuna

Olive oil, for brushing and drizzling

3 tsp fennel seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle

3 blood oranges, rind of 1 finely grated, all peeled, thinly sliced and seeds removed

½ head of radicchio, torn

1 fennel bulb, shaved on a mandolin, fronds reserved

1 large golden shallot, thinly sliced on a mandolin

1 cup basil, plus extra to serve (firmly packed)

Black olive dressing

100 ml extra-virgin olive oil

50 gm black olives, such as Gaeta, pitted

2 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste

1 small garlic clove, crushed

½ long red chilli, coarsely chopped

Finely grated rind of ½ blood orange and juice of 1

2 tsp brown sugar

Method

1.For black olive dressing, pound or process ingredients in a blender until combined and season to taste.

2.Heat a barbecue or char-grill pan to high. Brush tuna with oil, press fennel seeds all over fish and season to taste. Drizzle with oil and grill, turning occasionally, until charred on the outside and rare inside (4-5 minutes). Rest for a minute, then thickly slice.

3.Combine blood orange, radicchio, fennel, shallot and basil in a bowl. Dress with half the black olive dressing, toss to combine and season to taste. Serve salad with tuna and scatter with extra basil and fennel fronds, and drizzle with remaining dressing.

Maxwell Adey Senior Food Editor & Stylist

Maxwell has always been passionate about food. Born into a restaurateur and award-winning produce farming family, he was strongly steered into pursuing a career in advertising after completing his Bachelor of Public Communication at University of Technology, Sydney. After a very short stint, he decided to enrol in Commercial Cookery at TAFE to follow his true passion. Maxwell started out working in some of Sydney’s finest restaurants (Est., Claude’s and Moon Park) which helped further his love of all things culinary and developed his technical ability to cook. Later, he was lured into the magical world of food publishing where he freelanced for ten years for notable Australian commercial and editorial brands. He has also run his own business where he sells his marinated olives, dressings and sauces at food markets and select retailers. He excitingly joins the Gourmet Traveller team to bring his technical and creative expertise in food to the brand.

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Styling by Emma Knowles