Get creative with tuna

 

One of the shortcomings of the tiny kitchen in my cottage is the lack of storage space. And one of the things I need to store is a case of tuna—that’s twenty-four cans. I order it from a mom-and-pop fishing vessel in Oregon. It’s canned the day it’s caught, in water, only heated once. Delicious. Storage is only a problem for a while, because we eat a lot of tuna. (I also buy canned salmon from the same source—love it!)

Jordan, the resident daughter, loves the tuna salad we make, but she won’t consider tuna served any other way. In contrast, I am happy with tuna casserole, creamed tuna on toast, tuna Florentine (a complicated dish I just made for company), and I’m willing to try new ways with tuna. I think two or three weeks ago I mentioned a tuna/bean salad that didn’t come out the way I wanted. Here’s a version that did turn out right and couldn’t be easier—Megan, the Austin daughter, and I had it last weekend and gave it high marks, after I fiddled with it a bit.

Tuna/bean salad

1 15-oz. can white beans (should be cannellini, but I had navy beans and they worked just fine)

1 7 oz. can tuna (original recipe called for oil-packed, but I prefer to use water-packed and compensate with extra olive oil)

1 lemon, including zest.

¼ c. pesto

2 Tbsp. olive oil, or more to make up for using water-packed tuna.

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse beans; drain tuna; grate the lemon zest and then squeeze the lemon, saving the juice. Stir everything together. Chill before serving.

Want to do a sandwich something with a can of tuna? A tuna sandwich that is not tuna salad? Make it into a composed salad on bread—at least that’s the best way I can describe it.

A different tuna salad

Four ciabatta rolls or one loaf of French or Italian bread

1 7 oz. can tuna

4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

Salt and pepper

Watercress; if not available, arugula or romaine lettuce (watercress adds a nice, peppery taste)

Salsa Verde (recipe follows)

Directions

Split rolls or bread; some might use a baguette, but I find them too skinny. If using French or Italian bread, cut into four serving-size pieces and split. Arrange lettuce, tuna, eggs artfully on one side of bread. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover generously with salsa. Either top with the other half of the bread or serve the sandwich open-faced.

Salsa Verde

1 c. parsley

½ c. good olive oil, more if needed

2 garlic cloves, micro planed or minced.

3 or 4 anchovy filets

1 Tbsp. capers

Zest of a lemon

Salt and pepper

Mix parsley and olive oil thoroughly in food processor. Add remaining ingredients by hand. Taste for salt and pepper. Add more olive oil if needed for a spreadable consistency. You want it thin enough to generously top the sandwiches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New uses for a tired dip

Though it baffles me, I know people are gearing up for Super Bowl watch parties, planning extravagant spreads of snacks and dips. And you can bet artichoke/spinach dip will be on many cocktail tables. It’s everywhere and has been for years. In fact, some might be getting a bit tired of it.

Recipes abound on the internet, but basically it’s fresh spinach, wilted, canned artichoke hearts, a bit of garlic, Parmesan, cream cheese or sour cream or both. And it’s baked and served warm with crackers or tortilla chips. Hellman’s has a recipe that features, you know, their mayo, and the Hidden Valley folks have a recipe that uses ranch dressing mix. I don’t suppose it makes a whole lot of difference which recipe you choose. They’re all quick and easy to do, and like the classic French onion sour cream dip, everyone loves it.

But recently I’ve found some recipes that give that old dog new life. It makes a couple of great vegetarian entrees. Easiest: a baked pasta dish. Cook pasta—rotini or shells or fusilli, something with a bit of heft, in boiling water per directions, but pull it off the stove and quickly drain about three or four minutes shy of the al dente stage. Mix it with a tub of prepared spinach/artichoke dip, cover the whole thing generously with fresh Parmesan or Pecorino, and bake, probably at 350 for 20 minutes. Watch how it browns. Theoretically, the pasta will finish cooking, and the sauce will thicken. A rich but good main dish.

Want to make your own sauce? Here’s a rough idea: Sauté a couple of cloves of minced garlic in olive oil. Add spinach to the skillet, in small bunches, and cook until it is wilted. Stir in one can drained, chopped artichoke hearts—or chop them yourself if need be. Not hard.  Stir in 4 oz. cream cheese, softened, ¼ cup sour cream,  and 1/3 cup mozzarella. Stir to blend and pile it into a casserole dish. Cover generously with grated Parmesan or Pecorino.

Recently, Jordan, my friend Jean, and I were having a girls’ night supper. I had found a recipe for open-faced sandwiches using this mix. It seems one mom of young kids and picky eaters was trying hard to find something they’d eat. Spinach/artichoke dip on toasted sourdough bread was a hit. We liked it too, and I regret not taking a picture.

Ingredients

1 bunch fresh spinach

½ tsp. salt

1 can chopped artichoke hearts

¼ cup Parmesan

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise

Juice of a lemon

Pepper to taste

2 oz. cream cheese cut into ½” pieces – leave the cheese chilled to do this, and it’s still a mess. Comes as close to ½” as you can and don’t worry about it. It will melt in during cooking.

4 slices sourdough

Just a bit of olive oil

6 slices provolone

            Toast the bread and brush one side with olive oil. Set aside.

Bring a little water, maybe ¼ cup, to boil in a large skillet. Add salt, and working in small bunches, wilt the spinach. Drain, cool, and  squeeze out all the liquid you can. Then chop the spinach. (You could probably use one package frozen chopped spinach at this point but be sure to drain it well.)

Press water out of artichokes and chop if necessary. Mix spinach and artichokes and then blend in Parmesan, mayonnaise, lemon juice, pepper. Gently stir in cream cheese, taking care not to break up small bits. Add more salt if needed.

Put toast slices on foil-or parchment-lined pan with sides. Pile spinach/artichoke mixture on, spreading to the edges of the toast. Otherwise those edges will burn. Top each toast with provolone, again covering the entire mixture.

Broil until cheese melts and browns in spots. It can get too brown before you know it, so watch carefully. I split this recipe and did it in my toaster oven in two batches.  Worked fine. Let slices cool just a bit before serving.

In both recipes, if you like a tang of hotness,  you can add dried red pepper to taste. I’m not a fan of spicy.

Pan bagnat – sort of

           

Pan bagnat is the street taco of Nice, France, a sandwich layered with the ingredients of the classic French salade niҫoise. The recipe I have used and liked calls for chicken, but good albacore tuna is more traditional. The bread is usually a small round loaf (the French pain de campagne). Because it’s a made-a-day-ahead recipe, pan bagnat is great for company. You just whisk it out of the fridge and serve with a salad.

Like many folk foods or foods of the street, pan bagnat is flexible—you can substitute, and when I recently made it for supper for two, I did just that. All the round loaves I found at Central Market were way too big, and I remembered I had ciabatta in the freezer. It worked just fine.

Then I got out the rotisserie chicken breast I’d bought for the sandwiches, but it turned out to be a rotisserie turkey breast, so that’s what I used. A sliced hardboiled egg is sometimes included in the sandwich, but I knew my dinner guest was traumatized by eggs in childhood and does not eat them. So I guess what I’m saying is “Here’s a basic recipe. Take it where you want.” The only hard and fast rule that may be hard on the American palate is “No mayonnaise.”

Ingredients

Rotisserie grilled chicken or canned albacore tuna (preferably packed in olive oil)

Round loaf of artisan bread

1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. anchovy paste

1 garlic clove, pressed

Capers

2 sliced tomatoes

sliced red onion to taste

Sliced hard-boiled egg (optional)

Romaine lettuce leaves

Slice the bread in half horizontally and pull out all the bready insides; discard or freeze to use for bread crumbs, etc.

Drizzle anchovy/lemon sauce over top and bottom of bread. You may want to add a bit of softened butter to make it more of a paste that will spread nicely on the bread. Line bottom of the bread with capers, drained.

If using chicken or turkey, slice into slivers If using tuna, drain well and break into chunks. Place the meat on top of the capers. Top with remaining ingredients.

Put the top on and smash it down with your hands to flatten. Wrap in foil and put in fridge overnight, weighted down by heavy skillet or canned goods--I used a lighter skillet and two cans of green beans. Cut into wedges and serve.

My dinner guest liked it so well she decided she’d make it for an upcoming casual dinner party for about twenty people. I call that an ambitious plan.