Italian Tuna Salad

Tuna Salad-you either love it or hate it. My husband (who doesn’t like fish) loves it. I (who loves fish) am extremely particular about it. Our four year old loves it on hollowed out cucumber boats with the tuna recipe I’m sharing today.

I adapted this recipe from a tuna fish dish that my husband and I ate on a boat off the coast of Sicily on our honeymoon. What a day that was! Eight hours out at sea. The first four hours were just the two of us and a couple that drives you around the coast of Sicily and feeds you. It was an unforgettable day, to say the least. First we passed an old abandoned tuna factory off the coast and then were driven to the open water pretty far out. Dark blue waters. They stopped the engine and we soon realized they wanted us to take a swim in said water. We looked at each other and I knew immediately from the look on my husband’s face that he was not going to be the brave one. He whispered something about not wanting to swim amongst the giant tuna. I’m laughing writing this. What a spectacle we were! We braved it for a few minutes, just to be polite and while I was afraid of what could be nibbling at my toes in that water, I was happy that my new husband was just as much a chicken as I was!

After that jaunt, we went back towards the coast and while we happily swam around there, we were cooked the most delicious seafood pasta dish and were fed some delightful local white wine, Etna Bianco-our favorite. Gluten free pasta was prepared for him. It was just the two of us, surround by water. Now THIS was more my speed!

After lunch we sat up top and took in the sun, we picked up another friendly group of people and did some more swimming and touring. At the end of the trip, they fed us a couple of local tuna delicacies like the local riff on bottarga and the most amazing tuna salad we have ever had. And more of that crisp white wine. Oh what a day. The tuna was of course, the best grade you can find, mixed with mayonnaise and local Sicilian capers.

So, that is the inspiration to this “Italian Style Tuna”. I use Italian tuna in oil, mayo, capers and lemon. I guess you can call it Tuna Siciliana if you want to get technical. I do add chopped celery to it for some crunch. I also like to add a dollop of dijon to it if the mood hits me.

Like I said in the beginning, my daughter loves it on boats. I usually put it on a salad and also in a wrap for my husband and I. For this recipe I put it in a radicchio cup, and serving it that way with some toasted sliced Italian bread would make a really nice presentation for someone who likes tuna! Add a glass of wine, close yours eyes and pretend you’re on a boat out at sea instead of your dinner table on a Tuesday night!

Italian Style Tuna Salad:

Ingredients:

• 3 Cans of Italian Tuna in Oil

• 1/4 Cup Mayonnaise ( add more or less depending on your preference!)

• 1/2 cup Celery

• 2 TBSP Capers (leave in a little caper brine)

• Zest of one lemon

• Juice of 1/2 lemon

• Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix this all together and taste for seasoning, make your adjustments.

Serve as you like, serves 3-4

Notes:

Remember that tuna (and capers) can be very salty, so start with just a sprinkle of salt.

Italian tuna prices vary and can get quite expensive for an easy weeknight meal.  I like to use cans of Tonnino tuna, it is the most reasonable.

Enjoy!

Chicken Scarpariello, An Italian American Classic

Chicken Scarpariello is an Italian American classic, a perfect blend of old world and new world flavors that really hits the spot. Tangy, spicy and savory, there’s nothing not to love when it’s made right. By made right, I not only mean that the flavors have to be balanced, but also in my opinion, it has to be made with chicken on the bone. This is a dish that needs to withstand some slow cooking, so the last thing you want is dried out chicken. There are many different iterations of Chicken Scarpariello, and sometimes when I order it, I’m ultimately disappointed. I decided to make my own last Sunday so it would taste exactly how I wanted it to! Here’s my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks separated

• 1 pound Sweet Italian Sausage

• 3-5 Hot Cherry Peppers (depending on heat level you want)

• 1 1/2 Cups micro or fingerling potatoes

• 3 cloves fresh cracked garlic

• 1 tsp dried rosemary

• 1 tsp dried, high quality oregano, plus extra for garnish

• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock

• 1 cup white wine

• 2 Tbs vinegar pepper liquid

• 1 Tbs butter

• 1 tsp corn starch (optional)

Rosemary, Oregano, Cracked Garlic Cloves, Hot Cherry Peppers and their juice (they come in a big old jar) and finally micro potatoes-not always easy to find, but they are my go-to in many recipes.

To Do:

First, I like to make sure my chicken is nice and dry so it will brown well. A few hours before cooking I like to unpack my chicken, wipe off any moisture with a paper towel and then keep it on a drying rack in the refrigerator, this keeps the chicken nice and dry. Heat a dutch oven on medium heat with a little bit of oil, and once hot, liberally salt the chicken and making sure not to overcrowd, brown the skin on the chicken for about 4 minutes. Salt the meat side, turn over and cook for a couple minutes and then transfer to a plate. Work in two batches if there’s not enough room to do this at once. While the chicken is cooking, cut the sausage into 1-1 1/2” pieces and when the chicken is removed, brown the sausage on all sides. Remove sausage and add to the chicken plate.

Add the garlic, herbs and potatoes to the pot, mix it around and let cook for about 5 minutes. Add the white wine and remove any brown flavor bits from the bottom and sides of the pot with your wooden spoon. Start loading the chicken and sausage back into the pot, add the peppers and their juice, a teaspoon of salt and the stock. Put the lid on the dutch oven and let cook in a 350 degree preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Once the meat, potatoes and cherry peppers are all together in the pot, add the liquid and braise in the oven for 45 minutes.

When ready, take it out of the oven, remove the meat, potatoes and peppers and cook the liquid over a high flame. I mashed the remaining garlic with my wooden spoon so it disintegrated into the liquid, but if you prefer to, remove it. If the sauce seems very thin, add a teaspoon of warm water to a teaspoon of corn starch and make a slurry, add it to the liquid. Let this cook on high for 5 more minutes, and add the butter. Mix it around and taste it once the butter has completely melted into the sauce. If it seems too acidic, add just a dash of sweet like honey or sugar.

Once the sauce is thickened and tastes well balanced, arrange the meat, potatoes and peppers around on a serving dish, add in the sauce and top with more oregano. Serve-you and your guest will love this! Serves 3-4.

Chicken Scarpariello! The perfect Sunday dinner!

This dish is naturally gluten free, but if you would like to also make it dairy free (I did), just use a dairy free buttery spread like Earth Balance and you have a completely Gluten and Dairy free meal.