This fresh tuna and noodle recipe is great for a quick light dinner. You can use whatever vegetables you have available and whatever herbs you like. And I suppose whatever fish you have. No, actually, stick with the tuna, otherwise it will be a different dish.

This is the first year I’m growing marjoram in my garden. I always grow lots of different herbs, but I’ve overlooked marjoram for much too long. It is a close relative of one of my big herbal loves Oregano, maybe slightly more delicate, but equally lovely. I thought I’d try it with this new tuna invention, because it is growing beautifully whereas my oregano is looking a bit dodgy.

I also picked some fresh thyme, which is another herb I love. I don’t think I have anything but love for most herbs to be honest. The thyme and marjoram mixture smelled absolutely gorgeous when I was chopping it. Both fresh oregano and marjoram have this potent,  petrol-like smell. I love the smell of petrol.

It reminds me of my grandfather’s basement where he kept petrol for his little boat that he’d drive to his island cabin. I’m sure all fire safety regulations were carefully observed particularly as the wood heated sauna also resided in the basement. Seriously, it’s a mystery we didn’t all blow up to kingdom come one Saturday night.

Granddad also kept his potatoes in the basement. They had a little potato field that probably gave them enough to get through the winter. My granddad was a businessman, but no money on a bank account is ever the same as potatoes in the basement for a Finn. I must confess I always try to keep a couple of bags in the bottom drawer of my fridge.  Anything may happen, EU might collapse, Labour might win (just kidding), Russia regularly  goes crazy in some way that will make life difficult for Finns,  but as long as you have potatoes it’ll be ok.

So anyway, great combination, potatoes and petrol. I used to sneak down to the basement to sniff around a bit with my big brother as my bodyguard, because it was dark and scary there. This was the nice big brother, the other one would probably have put a spider down my back and locked me in there as his idea of a joke.  He also used to tell me bedtime stories about plutonium and Idi Amin. We called him “The Personality Disorder”.

Fresh tuna, vegetables and noodles with dill, marjoram and thyme recipe (serves 2)

2 nests of whole wheat noodles (or whatever noodle you like)

300g fresh tuna steak

2 shallots

1/3 orange bell pepper

1/3 yellow bell pepper

1/3 courgette

¼ cup whte wine

½ cup water

Handful of broccoli florets

Handful of string beans

2 Spring onions

Salt

Pepper or lemonpepper

Juice and zest of ½ lime

Dash of soy

2-3 tbsp of chopped fresh herbs

Cook the noodles according to pack instruction and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.

Cut the tuna in chunks and place in a bowl, add salt, pepper, lime zest and juice, soy and herbs. Mix and leave to marinade while you prep the vegetables (I left this in the fridge for a couple of hours marinading). Chop the shallots finely, chop the rest of the vegetables roughly.

Heat oil in a pan, add the onion, peppers and courgette, fry until they start to soften. Add the rest of the vegetables. Once all start to look kind of half way cooked add white wine and once it’s evaporated add the water. If you want your tuna cooked through add it when the vegetables still need a minute, add the noodles at the same time and cook until vegetables and tuna are done and noodles are heated through. If you want the tuna raw in the middle, add the noodles first and only add the tuna when the vegetable are more or less done. Then cook until the surface of the fish is browned.