Brunch for dinner! Make these open-faced tuna melts with browned, cheesy tops. Substitute mayo for plain yogurt, and serve with a salad for a refreshing light meal.
Time: 2/5
The ingredients either don’t take long to cook, or don’t need to be cooked at all
Effort: 2/5
Slicing, chopping, mixing, and a brief stint in the oven or toaster
Brunch for dinner
There comes a stage in every wannabe foodie’s life when a fascination with sourdough bread takes hold. For me, that stage began when I caught Ikea selling large sourdough loaves at a very reasonable price, in contrast to the artisanal bougie bakeries that cater to a clientele with much more disposable income than I do.
I was salivating just looking at the loaf on the shelf. I was craving the crunch from the crust. The chewiness of the insides. The tang and the aroma of a long fermentation. While I held my sourdough baby on my lap on the bus ride back home, I imagined it next to a steaming bowl of soup. Or lightly toasted and dipped in olive oil. Or rubbed with a clove of garlic and turned into bruschetta.
While I’m not opposed to a carbohydrate binge every now and then, I still strive for balance in my meals most of the time. A can of tuna came to the rescue from the depths of the kitchen cupboards, inspiring me to make this tuna melt. It was also a nice way to use up some leftover sauce from a crab, truffle, parmesan and cream pasta (which turned out very, very good).
Cheese makes this tuna melt just decadent enough, while substituting mayonnaise with plain yogurt keeps the calorie count down. Sourdough toast is satisfying as always, and a nice simple side salad brings volume and freshness to this brunch-for-dinner meal. It’s also a nice change of pace from the usual rice bowl rotation that we do 90% of the time.
A note on order of operations: I wasn’t confident enough to do things in parallel the first time around, but it’s absolutely feasible to start by slicing and toasting the bread, and preparing the tuna and salad while the bread is in the oven. Either way, it doesn’t take long, and the extra stress from juggling several things in the kitchen isn’t worth the time savings to me.
Dramatis Personae
Sourdough bread – 2 to 3 slices per person
Keep the pieces nice and thick. The bread is the star of the show, after all! You want to showcase the unique texture of sourdough, and thin slices end up being all crunch and no chew.
When toasting, err on the side of caution. The edges will toast even more when the bread goes into the oven a second time with the toppings, and it only takes a small slip up for them to turn to the Dark Side. Dun dun duuuun!
Tuna salad – as much or as little as you like
Canned tuna is a nice pantry staple to keep on hand. It’s a quick and convenient way to add lean protein to a meal. I’m feeding two people with a bit less than 200g of drained tuna.
I prefer tuna in brine to tuna in oil, because I can always add oil to suit my preferences and needs. Look up where your tuna is from to make sure it’s low in mercury, if that’s something that worries you.
To the tuna, I’m adding the remaining pre-shredded cheese I have hanging around in my fridge. And to bind the ingredients together, I’m using plain yogurt instead of mayo to save on some calories – I’m getting plenty of richness from the cheese already. I find the tanginess of yogurt a nice addition to tuna salad, but that’s a personal preference.
Finally, small additions make a big difference. Freshly cracked black pepper brings a lot of nice aroma to tuna salad, and finely sliced scallions add little pops of crunch and flavour which I really enjoy. I didn’t add any salt because my tuna came packed in brine, but taste and season as you go.
Salad salad – always eat your veggies!
Super simple, nothing fancy. I halved some cherry tomatoes and cubed up a cucumber, then tossed it in a dressing of olive oil and fish sauce (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it) emulsified with a tiny bit of mustard. I think I wanted to add some vinegar too, but I forgot. It turned out tasty enough as it were, as the tomatoes had a bit of tartness to them.
Executive summary
- Drain the tuna, and mix with tuna salad ingredients.
- Whisk olive oil, fish sauce and mustard together.
- Wash and cut up vegetables. Toss in salad dressing.
- Cut sourdough into thick slices. Toast until light brown in the oven at 180c/350f.
- Top sourdough toast with tuna salad. Return to oven at 180c/350f until cheese is melted and top is well browned.
- Plate up and serve.
Play by Play
Tuna salad in a bowl, and mix. I chose a bowl that was big enough for the task at hand, for once.
Salad dressing, whisked together right in the serving bowl. Mustard has emulsifying properties, so the dressing should thicken up if you are patient and whisk it for long enough.
Vegetables cut. Toss to coat in dressing, adjust seasoning to taste. The refreshing crunch of a salad will provide a nice contrast to the richness of the tuna melt.
Make use of the oven preheating to toast the bread. Beware of taking the toast too far – it’s one of my most common mistakes. Top with the tuna salad, and try to get the topping all the way to the edge to protect them from burning.
Keep an eye on them in the oven, and take them out when they look gorgeous like this! The piece in the foreground is the one with the crab-truffle-parm cream sauce.
Dinner is served! Scatter the top with some scallion greens for some textural and visual contrast.
In case you were wondering, the crab-truffle-parm toastie was oh so ridiculously good.
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