Mmm, tuna….

So for last night’s dinner I made the most expensive tuna melts that I’ve ever had.  Thanks again to F&W.  I loved dinner to pieces.  Chris spit his first and only bite into the trash and ate peanut butter and jelly on squishy white bread rather than face another taste.  To each his (or her) own….

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little more
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 6-ounce jar Italian tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked (this ingredient cost me about $8.00)
• 6 ounces marinated artichokes, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons shredded basil
• Salt and pepper
• 4 long ciabatta rolls or 1 long ciabatta loaf, split lengthwise
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 pound Robiola cheese, rind removed and cheese sliced (good luck with this part)

directions

Preheat the broiler. In a medium bowl, whisk the 3 tablespoons of olive oil with the red wine vinegar and Dijon mustard until combined. Add the flaked tuna, chopped artichokes, sliced red onion and shredded basil and toss gently. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Using a pastry brush, brush the cut sides of the ciabatta lightly with olive oil and broil cut side up on a baking sheet for 2 minutes, until the ciabatta is golden and lightly toasted.  Rub the (peeled) garlic clove over the toasted ciabatta and mound the tuna salad on top. Cover with the sliced Robiola cheese and broil until the cheese is just melted, about 1 minute. Serve the tuna melts at once.
commentary
The only part that was tricky about this recipe was trying to remove the rind of that Robiola cheese.  It’s similar to a Brie in that it’s got a soft inside and the rind is not very stiff.  Actually, I tasted the rind once I had cut it all away and scraped messy bits of cheese onto the tops of my salads, and found that I rather enjoyed the flavor.  As long as it isn’t harmful, I’d probably leave it on next time.
Poor Chris.  he disliked the flavor so much that when I offered to make him normal tuna (canned tuna packed in water, with fresh onion, and gobs of Miracle Whip) he refused.  He said he couldn’t even stomach the flavor of tuna after tasting what I had just tried to feed him.
J