Our Italian Tuna Salad
Last week, my husband and I returned from Virginia wine country with some of the best tuna salad I've ever encountered. Luckily, my Momma didn't raise no fool, and I purchased a few precious cans of the oil-packed Italian tuna for further experimentation.
After much deliberation, DucCat and I did our best to replicate that intense taste memory. Red onion and kalamatta olives were minced. Red wine vinegar was sprinkled judiciously, capers with much more abandon. Then the part I'd been dreading- what had the little chunks of red been? It definitely wasn't a sun-dried tomato, yet it didn't seem to be a roasted red pepper, either. Was this some sort of high-falutin', Italian-packed marinated red pepper? In the end, DucCat chopped up one hot cherry pepper, while I diced a simple marinated red pepper. We mixed, and let the salad chill and meld for a couple of hours.
Oh the sweet glory. While the flavour wasn't exactly duplicated, it was still a fine, full riff on the original. We laughed, nibbled, then finally tore ourselves away to make dinner. I went with the straight-forward sandwich interpretation.
Fresh focaccia, another garden-fresh tomato, and a little lettuce was all this needed to shine.
DucCat chose to mix his with cooled pasta for the perfect hot summer's eve treat.
At any rate, I'm just happy we don't have to travel 2 1/2 hours to get the stuff anymore!
In keeping with the Virginia wine country theme, we enjoyed the tuna with a couple of glasses of Veritas Rose. Light, crisp, cool and imminently quaffable, it was the perfect excuse to linger on the porch for an extra hour.
I know I haven't been posting so much recently, but be sure to check in tomorrow. Some big changes are about to happen!
Italian Tuna Salad
2 cans tuna, marinated and packed in olive oil
2/3 cup red onion, minced
8 kalamatta olives, chopped
1/8-1/4 cup red wine vinegar (taste and adjust)
1/2 cup capers, drained and rinsed
1 hot red cherry pepper, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 marinated red pepper strip, minced
parsley and basil, minced, 1/8 of a cup
juice of one lemon
Drain one can of tuna. Combine the tuna and oil from the other can with the remaining ingredients, and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours. Overnight, if you can wait that long.
posted by s'kat at 6/13/2006 05:30:00 AM
11 Comments:
S'kat,
Try a Salade Nicoise using the tuna and you'll understand why it's such a famous salad.
Thanks for following up the other post with this. I was very curious about just what was in the pricey tuna salad. I'm bookmarking this to try!
Sounds so good. I hope I can find the tuna.
That wine looks like it is GLOWING!! Hrm...a nice tuna something for dinner sounds good right about now :)
One word: YUM! Thanks for the recipe! There's an Italian deli across the street from work, I may have to see if they carry the tuna you got.
wow, your tuna version looks amazing! perfect for summer picnics. mmmm!
I remember driving past a few vineyards on commute between D.C. and the Shenandoahs. Never had time to stop and visit, unfortunately. But I can imagine the rose with the oil-packed tuna salad :) thanks for filling in the gaps!
TUNA ROCKS!!!! I'm Italian (sardinian ^_- ) and i know what i mean!!!
\*____*/
.:Cerberus:.
Luckily, it's easy to find Flott tuna here in LA. Thanks for the recipe, I can't wait to try it!
You have such a lovely blog. Great recipe it really does look so delicious.
My heart will rejoice after having this salad. I have tried this with little beans added. Salad is must in our meal in this blistering summer.
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