You need:
(for 5 people)
- 2 steaks of tuna (there is a lot of controversy over tuna, so when you buy it check that it is responsibly sourced. It is, like all fish, not cheap, but one steak goes down a long way in this dish)
- one large onion cut into thin half moons
- a quarter of a green pepper and half a red pepper cut into thin slices
- flour (3 or 4 spoonfuls)
- salt
- olive oil (4 spoonfuls plus more for frying the potatoes)
- a clove of garlic
- a handful of parsley
- a glass of white wine
- a glass of water
- one bay leave
- half a tomato into small cubes or, even better, 2 spoonfuls of (homemade) tomato sauce.
- a potato per person cut into medium size chunks
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. While the oil is heating up, cut the tuna steaks into chunks, salt them and dust them with the flour. Fry them for one or two minutes on each side, take them off the pan and reserve them.
In the same oil fry the onion and peppers (and fresh tomato if you are using it) turning the heat down so that they get soft and sweet. When they are ready add the fish back to the pan. Add the bay leave and the tomato sauce if you are using it. Grind the garlic clove with the parsley with a pester and mortar, add the wine to the clove and parsley mixture and add it all to the pan. Add the water, wait until there are bubbles in the sauce and let it simmer over slow heat for around 10 minutes ( it is really difficult to overcook this dish, so do not worry too much about the precise timing)
Separately fry the potatoes (in olive oil after having salted them). Take them off the frying pan when they are golden but not completely soft (this takes around 4-5- minutes) and put them on kitchen paper to get rid of the oil.
You can keep the fish stew for one day in the fridge and it actually tastes nicer the following day as the flour on the fish thickens the sauce. 15 minutes before you are going to serve the dish heat it up and add the potatoes. Cover with a lid and wait for 8-10 minutes until they get soft and the whole dish mellows. Add some chopped fresh parsley (this is not necessary really, but the dish looks nicer this way).
The children love this dish. As for you, get a glass of very cold Albarino (it is a white wine from Galicia and there are lots of good ones in most British supermarket but Terras Gaudas is best) and just enjoy life.
