Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce

I found a Cooking Light recipe quite awhile ago when I was looking for London Broil recipes, that I really liked the bones of.  I'd been wanting to make it for awhile and had bought wasabi paste to do so, but hadn't gotten around to it. The original recipe calls for grilling it, but we still have snow on our back porch and the temperatures have been hovering in the upper 30s, so that just wasn't going to happen. Instead, I decided to pan sear it (in my new dutch oven :) ) and finish it off in the oven.

This was really good - but I must admit that it was cooked more than we usually like our ahi tuna cooked. We usually eat it pretty rare, but I was busy putting the finishing touches on the risotto and left it in the oven a minute or two longer than I really meant to.

The wasabi, pepper, sesame seed crust is delicious and was a fun alternative to the poppy seed/sesame seed crust we typically do.

Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with Wasabi Cream Sauce

adapted from Cooking Light

2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
2 teaspoons wasabi paste
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 (6-ounce) ahi tuna steaks (about 3/4 inch thick)
1 tablespoon wasabi paste
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise

1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons sliced green onions

Combine first 5 ingredients; rub over tuna. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise, sour cream, juice, and soy sauce into remaining wasabi paste.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a non-stick oven-safe skillet or an enameled cast iron pot sprayed with cooking spray to high heat.

Sear quickly on both sides and then move to oven. Bake 4-5 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with wasabi cream; sprinkle with onions.