Fishing For Compliments

I used to make meatloaf a lot in days gone by, a good way of using up leftover meat, padding out a small amount with veg and breadcrumbs to stretch it...Good served hot, or cold, with salad, potatoes, bread, or other carbs...

The other Saturday in the Guardian, Yotam Ottolenghi posted a meatloaf recipe using with canned tuna. He suggested it for picnics. I have to say it turned out way better than I expected. Delicious with new potatoes and salad on a Sunday, and great sandwiches on Monday - nothing else added, just some ketchup spread on the bread. Tuesday with mash and veg. I forgot to take photos. Follow the recipe, chill it well, and then store in a Lock&Lock. I used some leftover regular bread - no pita to hand, and only 2 garlic cloves, and I had no parmesan, so I substituted some goats cheese. Here's the article [and his picture - mine actually looked just like the picture!!]

Serve slices of this tuna loaf with a salad or, even better, stuff them into sandwiches. For a picnic in the park, fry and cool the slices before transporting, but if you’re serving them at a garden picnic at home, set up a DIY sandwich station with a selection of filings, and let everyone create their own sandwich.

Prep 15 min, Cook 55 min, Cool 2½ hr, Serves 4-6

220g cherry tomatoes
½ onion, peeled and roughly chopped (40g net weight)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
80g parmesan, cut into roughly 2cm chunks
40g tomato paste
30g mayonnaise
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet mild paprika
¾ tsp chilli flakes
2 eggs
150g pita, torn into roughly 2cm chunks
Salt and black pepper
3 x 160g tins tuna in olive oil, drained and the oil reserved
60g baby capers, drained
25g basil leaves, finely chopped

• Heat the oven to 200°C and grease and line a standard 9cm x 24cm loaf tin 
• Put the tomatoes, onion, garlic, parmesan, tomato paste, mayonnaise, mustard, cumin, paprika, chilli flakes, eggs, bread, half a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper in a food processor, then pulse to a rough, wet paste.
•  Scrape the mixture into a large bowl, add the tuna, capers, basil and two tablespoons of the reserved tuna oil, then fold to combine. Spoon this into the lined tin, and mould the top into a loaf shape. Brush the top of the loaf with a tablespoon of the reserved tuna oil.
• Bake for 45 minutes, basting the loaf with a bit more tuna oil after 15 and 30 minutes,then remove and leave to cool for 15 minutes. Unmould the loaf, transfer it to a rack and leave to cool completely for about two and a half hours. Once cooled, carefully cut the loaf into 2½cm-thick slices and brush both sides of each slice with some of the remaining tuna oil.
• Heat a large, non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, fry the slices, in batches if need be, for two minutes on each side, or until they have a nice golden crust. Serve with salad or in a sandwich.

Made it on a Saturday afternoon - and it fed us well for three days. Bob was very positive about it. More fish, more salads...our diet is improving.