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Preparation time
overnight
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Cooking time
30 mins to 1 hour
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Serves
Serves 4
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For the confit lemon
- 200ml/7fl oz stock syrup (equal quantities sugar and water)
- 1 lemon, very thinly sliced
- 1 star anise
For the gnocchi
- 200g/7oz potatoes
- 2 free-range egg yolks
- 50g/1¾oz–100g/3½oz plain flour
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- dash olive oil
For the vegetables
- 50ml/2fl oz olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh or frozen peas
- 2 tbsp fresh or frozen broad beans
- 4 Tenderstem broccoli
- 50g/1¾oz green beans
- 2 vine-ripened tomatoes, skin and seeds removed, finely chopped
- 4 asparagus spears
- 1 small bunch thyme
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 100ml/3½fl oz chicken or vegetable stock
For the tuna
- 250g/9oz fresh tuna steak
- 1 tsp crushed pink peppercorns.
- 1 lemon, juice only
To serve
- 100g/3½oz Pecorino cheese, shaved using a peeler
Method
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Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
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To make the confit lemon, heat the sugar syrup and add the lemon and star anise. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for 24 hours.
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Bake the potatoes on a baking tray for 1 hour, or until soft. Scoop out the flesh and pass it through a potato ricer into a mixing bowl, or mash it thoroughly. Mix in the egg yolks and flour and beat until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and mix again.
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Bring the dough together and roll it into a long sausage shape. Cut into 2–3cm/¾–1¼in length pieces. Set aside.
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Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the gnocchi and cook until the gnocchi rise to the surface. Drain and set aside.
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Heat the oil in a large frying pan and sauté the vegetables for 5 minutes. Pour in the stock and cook until the vegetables are tender. Keep warm.
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When ready to serve, heat a dash of olive oil in a frying pan, add the gnocchi and toss in the hot oil for a few minutes until golden.
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Roll the tuna in the pink peppercorns on a plate or a board. Sear in a hot frying pan on each side, then squeeze over the lemon juice. Cut into thick slices.
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To serve, spoon the vegetables onto a serving dish, add the gnocchi and the sliced tuna, scatter over some confit lemon pieces and some shards of pecorino.