Northern and Southern Italian influences meet in this starter. The raw tuna is based on the crudo tradition of the south, while the radicchio, a northern crop, represents the other end of the geographic spectrum. The dish was inspired by a raw beef and grapefruit appetizer I prepared when I was cooking at a restaurant early in my career. While I never felt that those two got along, I was intrigued by the use of grapefruit on a carpaccio, and years later I hit on the combination of tuna and grapefruit. The parsley in this dish is a prime illustration of my belief that no herb should ever be taken for granted, as parsley often is; here it adds a crucial lift to the other ingredients.
Ingredients
- 0.25 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 shallot, minced
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 12 ounces sushi-grade tuna loin
- 1 large grapefruit, peeled and cut into suprêmes
- 1 head of radicchio, core removed, halved, and thinly
- sliced, preferably on a mandoline
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
How to Make It
- Put the olive oil, lemon juice, orange juice, and shallots in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk to blend and set aside.
- Use a very sharp knife to slice the tuna across the grain into 28 paper-thin slices. Arrange the slices on 4 chilled salad plates, overlapping them. Arrange the grapefruit segments over the tuna and scatter the radicchio over them. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, top with a scattering of parsley, and serve.
