Bonito con tomate | Tuna in tomato sauce

We don’t only tin tuna in Spain, we have an array of recipes for it. This is one of the recipes my mother cooks at home all the time. She makes a very tasty sauce but, with all respect to my mum, she overcooks the fish to death in a very old fashioned way. I don’t blame her, that is just as how she learnt to cook it! This is my fresher and lighter version of this home classic, which I will cook for her soon; let’s see what she thinks.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 tbsp Olive Oil

• 1 large white Spanish onion, thinly sliced

• ½ green Pepper, sliced

• 4 Garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 tsp sweet Pimentón (sweet smoked paprika)

• 500g Tomatoes, blended

• 1 Bay leaf

• 1 tbsp of caster Sugar

• 1 tsp sweet Paprika

• 600g Tuna loin, cut into large chunks

• Salt and Pepper

• 100ml fish Stock (or water and stock cube)

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the green pepper. Fry for 3 minutes and add the onion. Fry for 15 minutes, until the onion gets light golden. Add the bay leaf and the garlic and cook it for a further 3 minutes.

2. Add the sweet pimentón, sugar and stir for 15 seconds before adding the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. The sugar will reduce the acidity of the tomato making a more pleasant sauce. I personally like a sweeter tomato sauce, but that’s just me! Cook over a medium heat for at least 20 minutes, until the sauce has dried out.

3. Add the tuna and the fish stock and cook it for 4 minutes while shaking the pot lightly so the sauce becomes one. Let it sit for a further 5 minutes before serving, cooking with the residual heat until pink inside.