Pan-Seared Tuna with Grilled Asparaus and a Sun-Dried Tomato and Roasted Garlic Salsa

We're back from our anniversary trip to Paris. Good times were had by all.

Happy to be back in the kitchen, though, and here's some lunch I whipped up using some sun-dried tomatoes were bought from a Sicilian guy in Paris. Also, as I may have mentioned, asparagus is in season right now and tasting REALLY good. The flavors really went well together and this is actually quite healthy.

600 g tuna steaks, 2 steaks
olive oil, to drizzle
salt and pepper

16 asparagus, stalks peeled, trimmed
olive oil, to drizzle
salt and pepper

For the salsa:
8 sun-dried tomatoes, scooped out of jar with some of the oil
3 garlic, roasted, peeled, ends chopped off
2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil, extra-virgin, good quality
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Get a medium saucepan with water to the boil on high heat. You will be blanching asparagus in this.

Meanwhile, take the tuna steaks and rinse them off. Pat them dry and put them on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Set aside.

While waiting for the water to boil, make the salsa. Take the sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic (you could use regular garlic if you had to, but the roasted garlic really does add something extra), capers, shallot, vinegar, parsley and some salt and pepper and whiz up in a small blender. Add the olive oil and give it a few extra pulses to combine. You want it to stay a little chunky. (NOTE: If you don't have a small blender, you'll have to do the cutting up of ingredients yourself. Cut the tomatoes, garlic, capers, shallot and parsley up rather small and put them in a bowl. When you add the vinegar and olive oil, beat them around pretty good with a spoon or a whisk to achieve a similar texture as though you had used the small blender.) Set aside.

When the water is boiling, add a good little handful of salt. Add the asparagus and leave to cook for 30-45 seconds. You want it to maintain its vibrant, green color. Remove from the heat and drain in a colander. Immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. After a minute or so (stirring them around to cool them off), drain them off again, rinse in cold water, then pat dry and set aside.

Get a small grill or saute pan and an additional large non-stick pan ready under medium-high heat. When they are hot (a drop of water will sizzle and evaporate immediately when dropped in the pan), put the asparagus, some olive oil and some salt and pepper into the grill/saute pan and toss to coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until parts have browned and they are crisp-tender.

Meanwhile, place the tuna in the non-stick pan. If it does not make a sizzling sound right away, take them out and wait for the pan to get hotter. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Watch the color of the tuna change as it cooks from the bottom. When the tuna has browned almost halfway up the side, turn them over. Cook on that side until the tuna has browned until the whole side has JUST (or will just about) go totally brown with only little patches of pink left. Remove from the pan and set aside.

TO FINISH: Place the asparagus on a plate and the tuna on top of it. Place some salsa on top of the tuna, then drizzle the whole dish with good-quality extra-virgin olive oil (lemon-infused if you have it) and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve hot.