Neil Perry’s tuna steaks with broad beans and tapenade

Broad bean season is now upon us and these little gems are so worth the double-peel; the beautiful nuttiness they bring to any dish is simply intoxicating. You can use your favourite fish for this, but tuna works well with the intensity of the tapenade, which is also awesome spread on grilled bread as a snack.

SERVES 4

4 x 180g yellowfin tuna steaks
600g podded broad beans (about 1.8kg unpodded)
1 small handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, chiffonade cut*
1 small handful mint leaves, chiffonade cut*
80ml extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
sea salt and freshly ground
pepper

For the tapenade
50g salted capers
10 small black olives
2 anchovy fillets
crushed black peppercorns, to taste
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

1. To make the tapenade, soak capers in water for about an hour to ensure they’re not too salty. Drain, then roughly chop.

2. Roughly chop the olives and anchovy fillets, combine with the capers and crushed peppercorns and drizzle with olive oil. Set aside until needed.

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3. Bring a litre of water to the boil in a saucepan. Blanch the broad beans by adding them to the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain and immediately plunge them into very cold water to halt the cooking process. Squeeze the bright green pods out of their outer skins before placing them in a bowl. Add the herbs, olive oil and lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm until serving.

4. Heat the barbecue to high. Brush the tuna with oil and grill for 3 minutes each side until just cooked through.