Well, I'm over the hump on the 10 day challenge and I find myself contemplating a spaghetti squash. It's been sitting in my kitchen for a good week, waiting to be made into something tasty. I halved and baked the squash and then contemplated one of the halves. I had been thinking of baking and then deep-frying the ribbony flesh into crisp golden tendrils, so I heated up some oil and set to adding the shredded squash to fry. The result was far from what I expected: The strings clung together in masses that looked like brambly, oil soaked nests. FAIL.
Very glad I had another half, I started again, this time deciding to try just a quick pan saute in olive oil, but keep the essence of the squash in tact. It wasn't as pretty, but I had a tasty blend of textures: vegetal and crisp. It looked like a nice bed to serve under... something. I had a plan for that, too: tuna steaks with a roasted garlic/peppercorn crust. They turned out as luscious as filet mignon, but with a balanced lightness that married well with the squash. I hope you try this, it's surprisingly good.
3 Ingredients...
- 2 tuna steaks
- 1 spaghetti squash - cut in half and seeded
- 8 cloves of garlic, roasted
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Place squash face up on middle rack of oven and roast for 45 mins or until fork tender - remove and allow to cool
- Once cool enough to handle, begin using a fork to pull flesh out in ribbon-like "spaghetti"
- Heat olive oil in a medium ovenproof saute pan on medium-high and add half of the squash "spaghetti"
- Saute on medium-high for a couple of minutes, shaping like a pancake, then flip and repeat
- Remove to a paper towel to drain and sprinkle w/salt and pepper
- Repeat process w/second half of squash and set aside
- Turn on your oven's broiler to high
- Mash roasted garlic with a fork and add a tablespoon of roughly cracked peppercorns and sea salt to taste
- Press the garlic/pepper paste to each of the tuna steaks on one side
- Heat your ovenproof saute pan again on medium-high heat with more olive oil
- Add steaks, naked side down and sear for a few moments, shaking to ensure it does not stick to bottom
- Remove from stove and place under broiler for 2 - 4 mins depending on your broiler - you want the steaks to be just barely cooked on the outside, very pink in the middle
- Place one squash pancake on each plate and slice tuna steaks into medallions and serve on top of pancakes
Six down, four to go!
Gutsy difficult challenge. Very smart of you to use top notch ingredients. Tuna is like a filet in the respect that it needs very little adornment. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE it! I was lucky enough to have a mouthwateringly tasty tuna steak for lunch yesterday, and I'm still thinking about it. I keep reading about spaghetti squash, and desperately want to try it, but I don't think we have them here? Will continue to eat vicariously through food blogs I guess.. thanks for the virtual feast :D
ReplyDeleteLooks yummy. I would have never thought to combine tuna steaks with spaghetti squash.
ReplyDeleteI love this. You are doing a fantastic job with your challenge!
ReplyDelete@Conor - A quick search on Google tells me you can get spaghetti squash in Perth, but may need to order it from the greengrocer - in the meantime I'll keep making dishes to entice you to get some! :)
ReplyDelete@Tasty Eats - Honestly it was just a fluke that I even thought to put these together - as the squash is a bit starchy, though, I thought they might work with the tuna as it was being treated like a steak. I'm just relieved it worked! :)
Much thanks to Cocina, Sophie, and Spicie!
Seriously. Where have you been all my blogging days. I am a terrible cook. I fail constantly! I love the idea of just 3 things. Love it like crazy!
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