Simple Tuna Salad - Kicked Up a Notch

As usually happens at some point in my afternoon while at work, Shaun called me this past Thursday to ask the question he so often asks: "What's for dinner tonight?"  He unfortunately was met with a barrage of insults and suggestions as to what he could eat, none of which actually being anything appetizing or, in some cases, even edible.  Needless to say, I was tired and cranky and was NOT in any mood to come home and cook him dinner.

Now, I'm not saying I want him to cook for me (I've had his cooking...), but I was in one of those moods where it would have been nice if it wasn't just expected that I was going to make dinner every night.  To be fair, he doesn't expect it, and I have said that cooking relaxes me and that I do enjoy it, but still - he should know me well enough to know when I'm tired and cranky to not ask me to do anything.


That being said, we did need to eat, and we had just talked about how we need to stop spending so much money on eating out.  To try and make me feel less obligated to put something more than simple on the table, he said he didn't care if we just had tuna fish sandwiches for dinner.

Well, this is me, and if there is one thing I don't like to be simple or plain, it is my food.  However, tuna fish was an easy thing to do, and even easier to jazz up beyond your basic tuna sandwich or tuna melt.  My brain got to thinking and soon our "plain old tuna sandwiches" were Tuna Manicotti with Tomato-Caper Relish and Creamy Scallions.

Tuna Cannelloni

• 6 uncooked manicotti pasta shells
• 1 lemon
• 2 - 5oz cans low-sodium solid white albacore tuna in water, drained
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp capers 
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Tomato-Caper Relish

• 2 tbsp capers, drained
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, finely diced

Creamy Scallions

• 4 bunches of scallions, trimmed
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 heavy cream
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Cook the pasta shells according to the package directions, plus an additional 1-2 minutes, making sure to NOT put any salt or oil in the water. (I know it is common to add one or the other to pasta water to enhance flavor and prevent sticking, but it will affect the taste of the tuna in this case.  Besides, you should NEVER add oil to your pasta water if you ever want a nice hearty marinara to stick to it!  Any good Italian knows that!) Gently transfer the pasta to a colander, making sure not to break any of the shells.  Rinse with cold water and set aside.

Trimming Scallions

Meanwhile, while the pasta is cooking, trim the bottom of the white ends of your scallions off and place the 4 bunches in a small sauce pan with the water.  Bring to a simmer and them cook, covered, for 5-7 minutes.  Add the heavy cream and the garlic to the pot and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced by half and the cream begins to thicken, about 6-7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Zest of a Lemon

 Once you have your pasta cooked and set aside and your scallions started, begin on the tuna filling.  Zest the lemon until you have about 1 tbsp of zest.  Then juice the lemon until you have 1 tbsp of lemon juice, which you should set aside for the relish.  In a small bowl, combine your lemon zest, tuna, mayonnaise, 2 tbsp parsley, onion, 1 tbsp capers and black pepper and mix well.  

Resealable Bag as Pastry Bag

Spoon this filling into a small pastry bag (alternatively, if you do not have a pastry bag, as most people don't, use a resealable plastic bag, trying to get it all in one corner of the bag).  Set aside.






Now, at this point, I have to take a break to share with you a short, but amusing scenario that unfolded.  I got to this step of the recipe and went to get my capers out of the refrigerator, but alas... NO CAPERS!  After asking Shaun to ever so kindly go to the ghetto Stop & Shop up the street and grab a jar for me (read: yelling at him and demanding he do so if he wanted to eat that night) and being met with a reply of, "The chances of me doing that for you right now are slim-to-none," I went myself.  Now, this isn't your usual grocery store... things aren't where you would think they would be.  So, being safe, I asked who I was hoping would be a knowledgeable and helpful employee when I arrived where to find the capers.  The response I got back was, "Oh... umm... I'm not really sure what those are.  Are they like a mushroom or something?"  "No... not quite."  After going on a scavenger hunt through the produce section with the young man I've come to refer to as "Crater-face the know-nothing" after my several encounters with him in this store over the last year and NOT finding the capers, as I assumed we wouldn't since they really aren't a mushroom at all (which I very politely explained to him), he said, "I'm sorry, I can't really help you.  Maybe you should try another store."  Needless to say, I went and found them in the Italian food section of the store on my own.  That will teach me to ask for assistance again!  I'll stick with Whole Foods and Dave's Market for the majority of my grocery shopping needs, thank you very much!  If anyone asks why, I'll simply tell them Crater Face told me to.

For the relish, begin by coring and seeding your tomatoes (see image for what they should look like.)  Finely dice the tomatoes and combine them with the lemon juice previously set aside, 2 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp capers and black pepper and mix well.

Now, to assemble the manicotti, trim the corner of the bag containing your tuna filling or grab your pastry bag and pipe the tuna into each end of your manicotti shells until it is just sticking out the end of each shell.

To plate this simple dish and make it look a lot more elegant than it actually is, put a small spoonful or 1 grab of tongs worth of creamed scallions down in the middle of the plate.  Lay one manicotti horizontally across the scallions, then lay a second perpendicular to the first, resting the end of the second in the center of the first.  Top with the relish, making sure to scatter a bit of extra relish around the plate for garnish.

See!  It doesn't take much to turn that plain old tuna sandwich into something you'd find on the menu at a local tapas bar.  Go ahead, amaze your friends or family with this simple culinary wonder.  You don't have to tell them it only took you 20 minutes!