Steal This Recipe® Tuna Tartar Siciliano | Lugo Caffé, NYC

From Chef Sam Hazen - a restaurant classic

Stolen ‘con permesso’ from Chef Sam Hazen of Lugo Caffé, NYC you can recreate a restaurant classic at home with Hazen’s easily prepared, yet complexly flavored Tuna Tartar Siciliano recipe.

With its own house made mozzarella bar, salumeria tasting menu and wines sold by the ‘quartino’, ‘mezzo’ or ‘bottiglia’ you could easily think you were in Italy living ‘la dolce vita’ when you set foot inside Lugo Caffé – and that it exactly what the owners of the restaurant would like you to think! The style and ambiance captures the convivial charm of Italian café culture.

Specialties such as homemade pastas, grilled pizzas, and marinated steaks attract a select crowd stopping by, whether for an espresso and cornetto in the morning, an aperitivo after work, or a Florentine Porterhouse for dinner. And if you are inspired to embrace the style of Fellini’s infamous “La Dolce Vita” film set in Rome in the 1950s, you can visit the restaurant’s owners Lugo Tailored Lifestyle Boutique and pick up some sharp shirts and men’s clothing to bring the dream to life.

About the chef: Chef Sam Hazen has worked at some of the most iconic and successful restaurants in the world including La Cote Basque, Marchesi, Le Gavroche and Tao (both the NY and Las Vegas locations) and has his own management company; Sam Hazen Management, a food and beverage consulting, management and development company - which currently oversees the front and back of house operations of Lugo Caffé where Hazen has reinvented menu. 

Lugo Caffé 
One Penn Plaza 
suite 4421 
New York, NY 10119 
T: 212.244.8866

Tuna Tartar Siciliano is served at Lugo Caffé for $14.
This recipe makes 4 restaurant servings.

Tuna Tartar Siciliano Ingredients:
16oz Hand cut tuna, small dice
4oz Minced shallots
4oz Concasse-diced tomato (peeled, seeded and diced)
1 Tablespoon finely cut basil
1 Tablespoon finely cut mint
1 Tablespoon finely cut flat parsley
3oz Chopped black olive
2oz Extra virgin olive oil
1/8 Cup lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste

*Tomato Ragout Ingredients:
4 Plum tomatoes, diced
1oz Olive oil
1oz Red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons rough chopped oregano
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon fresh black pepper

Garnish Ingredients per Plate:
1/2 Teaspoon toasted pignoli (pine nuts)
1 White anchovy filet
*Tomato Ragout
Drizzled wine vinegar
Pinch oregano 
1 Crouton (small thin slice of toasted baguette or rustic bread)
1 Tablespoon micro opal basil 
Drizzled olive oil

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions:
Cut the tuna into a small dice.
Concasse the tomatoes - you can remove the skins easily by scoring the skin into quarters and immersing the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute – then remove the core and seeds and dice.
Finely cut the basil, mint and flat parsley.
Chop the olives and zest the lemon using a zester or micro plane.
Mix all the ingredients together in a chilled bowl and adjust seasoning to taste.
For the *Tomato Ragout: mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions for Plating:
Place ring mold on plate, fill ring mould with tartar mix (5oz of tartar mixture-per plate) and press it into the mould.
Place a quarter of the *Tomato Ragout on top, drizzle with red wine and olive oil, and sprinkle a pinch of oregano.
Place the anchovy and crouton on the plate, garnish with the micro opal basil and serve.

Please note: image may vary from recipe.