Are you looking for some inspiration and variation for your weekday menu? Not too complex but something new and different? Then this nest with seasoned tuna is certainly an option to consider. It is different than the classic cooked or mashed potatoes, but still easy to make and very straightforward. the most complex part of the recipe is in fact forming the nest (at least for me).
nest with seasoned tuna
Ingredients
for the potato nest
- 500 gram potatoes
- 2 eggs
- pepper
- salt
- milk a dash, optionally if needed
for the tuna seasoning
- 1 can tuna fish
- 4 gherkins small
- 1 shallot
- 10 black olives
- 2 teaspoons capers small sized ones
- olive oil
- pepper
- Parmesan grated
Instructions
for the potato nests
- Peel and dice the potatoes. Then boil or steam them.
- preheat the oven at 200°C.
- Mash the potatoes and then mix them with the eggs and spices up to taste. If needed, add a dash of milk to make it smoother.
- Form two potato nests with the puree on a baking paper. You can do this either by hand or with the piping bag.
- Then bake them for 10-12 minutes in the oven. Until they harden and get a goldenbrown color.
for the tuna seasoning
- While the nests are in the oven, you can prepare the tuna filling.
- Finely chop the gherkins, the olives and the shallot.
- Mix them with the tuna and also add the small capers. Season with herbs and add some olive oil to make the mixture smooth.
- Transfer the seasoned tuna mixture into the nests, and finish with some grated Parmesan.
- Bake the nests for another 10 minutes in the oven at 200°C. You may also turn on the grill for extra crunch at the top.
- I garnished the dish with finely chopped arugula salad and cherry tomatoes cut into quarters.
Nutrition
The inspiration
This recipe combines the ideas from two different recipes. On the one hand I saw something similar on Italiankitchenstories. On the other hand there was my Greek tuna fish starter, the first ever recipe I published on gerechtenweb.blog.
The nest
The most difficult part of the recipe? Forming the nest. Not because of the cooking. Making mashed potatoes is not such a big issue after all. But my handicraft skill have a lot of room for improvement. I tried to form the nests with the piping bag. For that, you have to make sure that your puree is mashed well. Otherwise you risk that some potato parts might block the piping procedure. If the mash is too thick, you may add a dash of milk to make it smoother. But don't overdo it, because otherwise the nests will loose their shape. If you don't have a piping bag, you may also form the nests by hand.
After 10-12 minutes in the oven, the nests will have a fix form, and will have a golden brown color. Then they are ready for the tuna mixture.
The tuna mixture
I made a seasoned tuna mixture, based on this Greek tuna fish starter. I wanted to keep it simple for a classic weekday menu. But you can be very creative with it and make it up to your own taste and inspiration. For example you can add some ginger and/or soy sauce for a more expressive taste. You like it a bit more spicy? Then consider adding a chili pepper. Or you may add some freshness with basil or cilantro. You can make a lot of variations on the basic scenario. Feel free to share your ideas with the community!
More surprising.tuna
When I was young I thought tuna was a small fish. Little cans for little fishes, like sardines. Until I was on a fish market in Funchal, Madeira. There I saw for the first time a gigantic real tuna fish. I still wonder how many cans they make from one big tuna.
But you can make a lot of surprising dishes with canned tuna. And as usual, we have some good inspiration on surprising.recipes:
- Sicilian tuna pasta with baked capers.
- summer pasta salad with green beans and tuna.
- Greek tuna fish starter. (the first ever recipe I published in Dutch).
- asparago tonnato (my version with asparagus instead of vitello).
- quail eggs tonnato (another tonnato, but now with quail eggs)
- duo of healthy dip sauces.
- linguine alla puttanesca.
- special style puttanesca.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
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