In honour of International Happiness Day yesterday, I decided to make a dish that I have neglected for a while but one that brings me the greatest of happy memories.
My old flatmate and I used to eat these nearly every night during the winter and exhausted Finland's tuna stocks...they were perfect after a nice sauna and dip in the sea (yes, seriously). You can substitute the tuna for salmon or any other fish, as desired.
Tuna Burgers with Pineapple Salsa and Garlic Sauce
Super-Quick Spelt Burger Buns:
These are super quick to make- only 40 minutes from start to finish!
Ingredients:
500g Doves Farm Wholemeal Spelt Flour
2 tbsp Dried Yeast
1 egg
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
150ml olive oil
300ml warm water
Method:
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before adding the sugar and olive oil. Stir and leave to sit for around 10 minutes.
Slowly add 1 beaten egg to the yeast mixture. Gradually add the flour and the salt. Mix until you have formed a dough. (Use your judgement and add extra water or flour where necessary - different types of flour often need more or less water).
Knead the dough for around 3 minutes.
Divide the dough evenly into balls around the size of the buns you want to make. You should be able to yield around 6 generous buns from this recipe.
Slightly squash each dough ball with the palm of your hand and place the dough balls on a baking tray covered with parchment. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place. We chuck ours in our drying room, but near a radiator also works well. Cooler temperatures mean the dough will take longer to rise.
As these are quick-buns, leaving them to rise for 15 minutes should be enough. You can of course leave them longer if you have time!
Bake in the oven at 180c for around 15 minutes and leave to cool on a rack before slicing.
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The Tuna Burgers
When we originally made these, we didn’t have the luxury of a food processor. It was therefore a very hands on task. Either method works well so don’t panic if you don’t have any gadgets to put to good use.
Ingredients:
5 fresh Tuna steaks (frozen work well too- make sure they're from a sustainable source!)
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 tbsp Soy sauce
Thumb-sized chunk of fresh ginger, grated
Large bunch of fresh coriander1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 ripe avocado (a great way to use up just-a-tad-too-ripe-avocados!)
Spring onions (4-5)
4 limes
1 tsp coconut oil
By hand:
Shred the tuna steaks by ripping them apart with your hands. If you’re up for it, you can almost ‘mince’ the pieces by squeezing handfuls through your fingers. Add the avocado, chilli, the juice of 4 freshly squeezed limes, chopped spring onions, grated ginger, soy and fish sauce. Stir vigorously until it resembles mince.
When you’re happy with the consistency (it should be fine enough to hold together in patties but coarse enough so that there is some texture to every mouthful), leave to 'marinate' for as long as you have.
By machine:
Chuck all the ingredients into the food processor and pulse until minced.
Method:
Grab a handful of 'tuna mince' and shape into patties. As you get them into shape you may find that the marinade squeezes out -don't panic, your marinading time means the flavour will be retained! Aim for a yield of 6-8 burgers depending on size of tuna steaks and size of your burgers!
Place a shallow frying pan or griddle on to the hob, with a teaspoon of coconut oil. Carefully add the burgers to the pan, being mindful of the oil spitting.
Pan-fry each side of the burgers until golden brown - five minutes a side or so- or less depending on how well-done you like your tuna.
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Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients:
Handful of fresh coriander
Juice of 1/2 lime
Method:
Using a mini-chopper, food processor, or your finely honed chopping skills, blitz the pineapple slices, lime juice, coriander and chilli together. Et voila!
Garlic Sauce (Aioli)
Ingredients:
3 cloves of garlic
Yoghurt*
Juice of 1/2 lime
*Creme fraiche, fromage blanc, fromage frais, smetana, greek yoghurt, quark, plain soya yoghurt (probably NOT the vanilla variety!) all work wonderfully well for this. Keep it natural is what I'd recommend.
I am a passionate hater of mayonnaise. I despise the stuff even though this is perhaps unfairly down to the world's obsession with adding a whole damn jar to one tiny sarnie! (ugh 'Tuna mayo' I am looking at you!)
Whilst there is technically nothing wrong with a good homemade mayonnaise, I prefer something lighter, and more in the yoghurty camp. By all means add lime juice and crushed garlic to your Hellman's but I guarantee using yoghurt will sway your taste-bud opinions and nutritionally be much more beneficial to your health *go probiotics!*
Method:
Simply crush 2-3 garlic cloves and add the juice of half a lime to whichever base you’ve opted for and mix!
Smoked Paprika Potato Wedges
While we're at it, I have a confession to make. I despise potatoes. I think they're romanticised, over-glamourised and in short- totally unnecessary. It seems I am in the minority though and as I am not one to deny others of their enjoyment, potatoes are still a feature in my kitchen. These are just as easy as oven chips, taste better and can be made using sweet potatoes *yay!*
Ingredients:
4 large potatoes (or sweet potatoes, as you prefer!)
Smoked Paprika
Salt and Pepper
2 tbsp Olive Oil or 2 tbsp of Coconut Oil
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 250c.
Slice your potatoes into quarters, and for super large ones, eighths - make them, you know, wedge sized and shaped!
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and chuck your potato wedges in. Bring back to the boil for 8 minutes.
Drain in a colander and leave to 'steam' dry for a few minutes.
Place your par-boiled wedges on a baking tray and drizzle with the oil of your choosing (the sweet potato / coconut combo is my favourite)
Sprinkle with a few generous pinches of smoked paprika (see here) and some freshly ground black pepper.
Shuffle the tray to ensure the wedges are evenly coated and pop in the oven on a relatively high shelf for around 30 minutes, turning at least once.
Once golden brown and crispy, remove from the oven and place in a serving bowl with a good pinch of sea salt.
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We served our burgers with spiralised organic beetroot and steamed asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil
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