Za'atar-Crusted Tuna With Cured Tomatoes and Merguez Vinaigrette

"I got this recipe from my grandma's "Philadelphia" magazine. It is credited to the "fish master" Chip Roman of Conshohocken's Blackfish restaurant. The tomatoes take 4 hours to cook, which is included in the cook time. They are so delicious. You must use merguez sausage in this dish, which is a lamb sausage. Do not make other sausage substitutions. DH and I, not knowing what merguez was initially, made the dish with chorizo once and it was way too rich and didnt taste anything like how the dish is supposed to, now that I found and tried it with the merguez. The second time I made the dish, I put the tomatoes in the crock pot all day and then finished them in the oven when I got home and was ready to prepare the rest of the dish. Also, the original recipe (as I posted it) calls for 1 cup of za'atar. I found that was way too much for my needs and used about half that amount. The tomatoes are eaten whole as a side accompaniment to the fish."
 
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Ready In:
4hrs 45mins
Ingredients:
22
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
  • In a mixing bowl, toss the whole tomatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil, paprika, salt, garlic, 2 Tb shallots, thyme and basil. Spread on a sheet pan and place in oven for 4 hours.
  • When tomatoes are close to being ready, in a saute pan over medium-high heat, saute sausage until nicely browned (it will crumble as you cook), about 10 minutes.
  • Remove sausage and set aside.
  • Drain all but 2 Tb of fat from pan, return pan to medium heat, and add sherry vinegar to deglaze, scraping up browned bits, about 1 minute.
  • Add 1 Tb olive oil, 1 Tb shallots, capers, and tomato sauce; mix to incorporate, then remove from heat.
  • Season with salt, pepper, and chives, and return sausage to pan.
  • Meanwhile, heat a cast iron pan over high heat with canola oil until smoking.
  • Season tuna with salt and pepper, then roll in za'atar on all sides, until well covered.
  • Sear tuna, 1 minute on each side, for rare.
  • Evenly divide tomatoes and tuna among plates and cover with sauce; serve immediately.

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Reviews

  1. Boy was this good! The first time I used za'atar with fish, and it was a hit. Merguez are about the only sausages DH and I really like, so this recipe sounded most attractive. I made the tomatoes in the crockpot, too, to save time and heat, and it turned out so delicious! Thanks for posting this!!
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I work full-time as a School Psychologist in Michigan. Besides the kids, one of the best aspects of the job is summer vacation, when I can concentrate on doing more of the things that I like to do---like look up recipes and play games on Recipezaar!!! I married my wonderful and handsome husband, Sean, in August 2007. He is becoming a wonderful gardender and tends to both our veggie and herb gardens. We really enjoy cooking with our own fresh ingredients. We most often cook together, so my reviews typically reflect our joint opinions. He's the better cook, so I pick up a lot of my techniques from him. My other interests include reading (now that I have time), Irish dancing (I've taken a class for the last several years), "appreciating" wine (I use the term very loosely), and listening to and going to see Irish bands (I love the Pogues). I also enjoy travelling, especially around Western Europe, where I have been multiple times. One of my favorite places is Italy, and Sean and I had a great time on our honeymoon eating, drinking, and sightseeing in the Cinque Terre and in Tuscany. This July 2009, we expanded our horizons to Eastern Europe and visited the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Croatia. Two of my favorite dishes on the trip were Croatian: fish brodet and Hvarska gregada. I am looking forward to trying my hand at making them at home as I see that someone on Zaar, who is Croatian, posted recipes for both! Besides my husband, the other lights of my life are my cats: Chloe, Pip, and my newest ragdoll cat, Giselle, all of whom I absolutely adore. <a href="http://s341.photobucket.com/albums/o388/courjen/?action=view¤t=PipChloe_web.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o388/courjen/PipChloe_web.jpg" border="0" alt="Pip and Chloe"></a> <a href="http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o388/courjen/Giselle_zaar.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i341.photobucket.com/albums/o388/courjen/Giselle_zaar.jpg" border="0" alt="Giselle"></a> I've participated in the following events: <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg" border="0" alt= "Photobucket"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/calendar%20clips/Copyofsoybean.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%204/ZWTAB-tg.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> I most recently had the privelege of being on the ZWT5 Team, the Sultans of Spice, with a great group of people. We came in second place! <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/participantbannerzwt5.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src=http://home.insightbb.com/~webdesign5/Logo1a.jpeg>
 
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