Serious Sandwiches: Whatta Tuna Sandwich!
Posted to the Serious Sandwiches Flickr Photo Group by Dylan Valliere
Normally, I like to leave the serious sandwich making to the professionals, and typically this column focuses on already prepared sandwiches available in some sort of complete and purchaseable form (i.e. all you have to do is pay and eat). But occasionally I'll enjoy making a sandwich for myself at home, and I'm not ashamed to admit that sometimes those recipes will come from surprisingly un-serious sources. That sandwich looks good, right? Who cares where the recipe came from? And it takes more than 30 minutes to make, so how bad could it be?
Serious is not a word that most use to describe Rachael Ray's food, but I'll be damned if that doesn't look like a delicious tuna sandwich.
About the author: Zach Brooks is the proprietor of Midtown Lunch, where he blogs about affordable lunchtime eats in Midtown Manhattan. The guy knows his sandwiches.
Italian Tuna Salad Sandwich
Adapted from Yahoo! Food
- makes 2 servings -
Ingredients
2 (6 ounce) cans Italian tuna in extra-virgin olive oil or water, well drained
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1/2 cup pitted Calamata black olives, chopped
1/2 cup soft sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1 small garlic clove, finely chopped
2 small celery ribs with greens attached from the heart of the bunch, chopped
2 roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn or chopped
1 lemon, juiced and zested
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1 loaf crusty Italian bread, split lengthwise and hollowed out
Procedure
In a shallow bowl, flake the tuna. Add the artichoke hearts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, celery, hot peppers, parsley, basil, lemon zest and juice and combine. Dress the salad with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the salad into the hollowed-out crusty bread and serve.
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18 Comments:
Aaaahhhh, it's a monster! I'd need to tie that puppy up so it didn't lose its innards before even attempting a bite ... I mean, I'm not supposed to cut it up or anything, am I? Even though it is an entire loaf of bread?
OneWallKitchen at 1:43PM on 02/20/08
I'm confused on the peppers. The ingredients list 2 roasted red peppers and the instructions mention hot peppers only. So, 2 roasted hot peppers? Or 2 roasted sweet red peppers? Both sound good - I guess I could try it both ways.
dafly133 at 2:11PM on 02/20/08
Added safflower mayo instead of olive oil. Nummy, nummy!
erinlovestoeat at 2:56PM on 02/20/08
The sandwich looks too big to handle...I'll try it as a salad with a crusty slice of bread on the side...this recipe looks like it could easily serve 3-4.
Interesting.
elaine nan at 3:16PM on 02/20/08
I've had a hankering to stuff some choux puffs with a doctored-up tuna salad. This might be a good candidate...
slogger at 3:47PM on 02/20/08
Agree, it looks like enough for 3-4 people. Unless it's for my teenaged son... then it's just enough for a light snack!
I'm thinking it would be really good with some capers thrown in... and maybe shallots instead of garlic...
LoCo at 4:38PM on 02/20/08
I hope this can feed four 4 people, despite what the serving suggestion says (I was tempted to write "makes 2 huge-ass servings"). I usually eat half a can of tuna for a sandwich!
Robyn Lee at 6:31PM on 02/20/08
Oh good Lord! That's huge! I think I might need a knife and a fork to eat it... That's no fun. I mean it's a sandwich, for Pete's sake!
Nonetheless, it looks fantastic!
levinedym at 6:34PM on 02/20/08
and.....you could keep adding! i'm thinking some finely chopped kosher dill pickle, green olives and crunchy sprouts couldn't hurt. this would have to be eaten with a fork, bread on the side. and some huge slices of beefsteak tomato - a vision that keeps dancing in my head and tickling my tastebuds. i'm SO ready for summer.
i do love tuna sandwiches - keep looking for the Italian canned, but haven't seen it yet.
PerkyMac at 7:02PM on 02/20/08
Looks great. I'll agree with the poster above who suggests tying it up first. And maybe letting it sit and smoosh together for a while to let the flavors meld. Mmmm.
Kerosena at 9:17PM on 02/20/08
some mayo should tie the ingredients together so they wont spill. That or some cheese then sticking it into the oven. That would be interesting.
sweetieBird at 7:12AM on 02/21/08
@sweetieBird......you are so right - mayo would be a key ingredient for me.
PerkyMac at 8:20PM on 02/21/08
just curious, how exactly would you describe Ray's food then?
Her personality aside, I absolutely fail to see what the problem is. She cooks the way a lot of home cooks do. She uses fresh produce, she gets things done quick. So, what is it exactly that is not 'serious'?
She is NOT Sandra Lee, after all. Give Rayray a break.
DivineDomesticity at 9:25AM on 02/22/08
YUMMY! Get to your fav baker or run to wholefoods and stuff this into individual homemade rosemary focaccia rolls! A tad of soy mayo would be nice!
ladiliberty at 8:13PM on 02/22/08
I'd rather have the tuna mixture on greens as a salad - it sounds delicious but too unwieldy to eat as a sandwich!
gorzd at 7:53PM on 02/25/08
I agree with you, Divine. I don't even find RayRay annoying anymore.
Her casual approach has made jillions of people cook out there who would normally be too intimidated to do it. And the camera LOVES her. Yeah, she's a little over-exposed...ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK.
bessfour at 5:05PM on 03/02/08
Italian tuna sandwich sound awful. I don't like Italian food. It would be better with just regular tuna, pickles, onions, lettuce and a little mayo.
paris221966 at 2:51PM on 04/06/08
mmm, that does look good. you should add it to http://www.welovesandwiches.com/
howard at 6:34AM on 04/14/08