Tuna Sandwich

Tuna Sandwich

Quick and Easy Midsummer Meals.

I know your thinking “who doesn’t know how to make a tuna sandwich?”

True! There is the tuna sandwich we all loved as a kids at home.  

Flash forward to the canned sandwich tuna to tuck in between bread slices for a quick, filling, meal on the run. There are too a proliferation of  the tuna melts, clubs, burgers, tartars, and endless cross cultural pop-up stand and food truck pile ups that are all wonderfully good in their own right.

But, for me, a simple tuna salad sandwich made at home beats them all when it comes to the pleasures of using fresh summer produce paired with light chunk tuna tucked between a couple of slices of hearty toasted crusty bread.

It’s all in the ingredients! Use farm fresh organic greens, vine ripe tomatoes, celery, spring onions, crusty bread, and best quality canned chunk light tuna in spring water and you have a quick bright summer tuna sandwich in the making. Top off the meal with a crisp summer greens salad and watermelon pickles and all the beautiful flavors of summer on a platter await you!

Serves: 2

Prep time: 20 minutes

Tuna Salad for sandwich:

• 1 8oz/225g chunk white tuna in spring water
• 1/3 cup finely diced young celery
• ¼cup thinly sliced green onions (scallions) including green parts
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced Italian parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon capers (drained)
• 1/3 to ½ cup mayonnaise (homemade or best quality store bought)
• 1 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice + ¼ teaspoon zest
• ½ teaspoon flaked sea salt
• a twist or two freshly ground white pepper 

Bread:

• 4  ¾ inch slices of crusty bread of choice cut across the loaf on the diagonal
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large garlic clove
• sea salt 

Garnishes:

• 2 cups fresh rocket (arugula) leaves, including tender stems
• 4 ¼ inch slices large vine ripe tomato
• flaked sea salt to taste

Preparation:

Drain the tuna well and place in a nonreactive bowl. Add the celery, green onions, parsley, capers, and mayonnaise. Fold the ingredients together using a fork, being careful not to break up the tuna chunks too much. Add the lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper. Fold into the tuna just until combined, cover with cling film, and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven, toaster oven to 350F/180C (or use toaster)

Place the bread on a baking tray and brush both sides of the bread with the olive oil. Place in the oven (toaster oven, or toaster) and toast until lightly colored and crunchy, but without drying the bread out completely.

Remove and rub the oiled surfaces of the bread with the garlic clove. Lightly salt and set aside to cool.

Assembly:

Spread a thin layer of tuna salad on top of the 4 slices of toasted bread. Top 2 slices with a layer of rocket and mound a generous portion of tuna salad on top of the rocket. Place 2 slices of tomato on each and lightly season tomatoes with flaked sea salt. Top each with additional rocket and place the remaining 2 slices of bread on top. Slice the sandwiches in half as you like and serve.

Suggested:

Serve with watermelon pickles (see here) and a crisp summer mixed greens salad simply tossed with extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, a splash of lemon juice, flaked sea salt and a couple twists of freshly ground pepper. A beautiful refreshing light summer meal in minutes!