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Tuna the Beat Around

Sometimes you just get lucky.

Sometimes you throw 15 ingredients into a bowl, mash them into little burger things, fry them and are astounded by their delicious flavor.

Sometimes you just really don't want to leave the house to go grocery shopping.

That's what happened here.

I volunteered to make dinner for my parents and then realized too late that I had no time to go shopping and no time to defrost anything from the freezer.

So I threw a few cans of tuna in a bowl with some dijon, eggs, sourdough bread and a host of other things and came up with these incredibly delicious tuna patties.

Then I topped them with a relish-caper mayo and sat back to the sounds of applause. Okay, not quite, but these were damn good. Even my mom, who hates tuna with the burning passion of a thousand suns, liked these. Also, they require about 15 minutes of hands-on work, including cooking, which is a major key to success.

Because sometimes I like to be healthy, I served these tuna burgers on spinach, but feel free to make them into a sandwich -- a crusty ciabbata roll would be ideal, plus some arugula. Yum.

These are also very malleable: if you like them spicier, add more hot sauce and mustard. Tarragon also might be a nice addition, if that's your jam. Just don't skip the step of letting them firm up in the fridge for about half an hour. Otherwise cooking them will be a giant pain in the ass. If the mixture still seems too dry, add another beaten egg to the mix. These are pretty hard to screw up.

In other news, it's above 40°F in Chicago today so I'm just waiting to see someone driving around in their convertible with the top down. It's basically summer.

Ingredients:

For the Patties:

2 8 oz. cans of tuna plus about 3 tbs. of liquid reserved from one of the cans

2 c. sourdough bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 tbs. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. fresh lemon zest

2 tbs. lemon juice (or more, to taste)

3 eggs, beaten

3 tbs. fresh chopped flat leaf parsley

2 tbs. mix chives, tarragon, green onions, what have you

Salt and Pepper to taste

Hot sauce to taste

Lemon wedges, for serving

For the Dill-Caper Mayo

1/2 c. mayo

3 tbs. capers, plus 1 tsp. caper juice

2 tbs. dill relish

Fresh black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Combine, stirring well, to make sure the tuna is broken up into small chunks and the egg is coating everything evenly.

2. Form patties, about 1/3 cup each. Reserve to a baking sheet covered in waxed paper. Chill patties for about 30 minutes.

3. While patties are chilling, combine mayo, capers and juice and dill relish in a separate bowl. Stir well and add freshly ground black pepper to taste. Reserve.

4. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet. Cook patties, about 3 - 4 minutes each side, or until golden brown. Serve with a dollop of seasoned mayo, a squeeze of lemon juice and more hot sauce, if desired.

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