Garlic Braised Tuna Steaks

This is a microwave recipe that actually earns its method. The covered casserole traps steam around thick tuna steaks so they poach gently in red wine and water instead of drying out the way a pan sear can. Garlic slivers tucked into slits in the flesh perfume the fish from the inside as it cooks.

The sauce happens in stages. Pearl onions brown on a hot browning dish first, then everything moves to a casserole for the quick braise. The reserved cooking liquid gets thickened with a small butter-and-flour roux, sharpened with tomato paste, thyme and a squeeze of lemon, and poured back over the fish at the end. A bed of wilted spinach soaks up anything the plate doesn’t catch.

Chef Tips

• Use tuna steaks at least 1 inch thick. Thinner cuts will overcook in the 5 minute braise and turn dry.
• Preheat the browning dish the full 3 minutes. It behaves like a stovetop skillet and the onions need that surface heat to color.
• Cook the spinach separately at the end. Adding it to the braise turns it to olive-drab mush.
• Stir the roux constantly as it cooks. Microwave hot spots can burn flour in seconds.

Variations

• Swap tuna for swordfish or halibut steaks of the same thickness.
• Use white wine and add a pinch of saffron for a lighter, Provençal-style sauce.
• Stir capers and chopped olives into the finished sauce for a puttanesca lean.