Author Notes
This recipe was part of a college project for a sculpture class. For the project I developed recipes that took inspiration from my college town, created the dishes in an artistic and sculptural way, photographed them, and put it all together in a cookbook. The flavors of the tuna, avocado, and tomatoes come together to create what I think is am almost upscale tuna melt. View the full version of the cookbook here http://issuu.com/georgekb/docs/katie_george_sculpture_cookbook —Honeycomb
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Ingredients
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3
roma tomatoes
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2 tablespoons
olive oil
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6
spring onions, trimmed at both ends
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4 ounces
white chunk albacore tuna, drained
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4 tablespoons
sour cream
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1
lemon, zested and juiced
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1/2 tablespoon
chopped chives
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pinch
cayenne
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1/2
avocado
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1 tablespoon
pine nuts
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to taste
salt and pepper
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice the tomatoes and remove the seeds with a small spoon or your fingers. Drizzle 1 Tbs. of the olive oil over the tomatoes and the spring onions and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Place tomatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet, making sure the tomatoes are hollow side up. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes until slightly browned and shriveled but not burnt. Add the spring onions to the baking pan for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Allow to cool slightly before using.
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Combine the tuna, 2 Tbs. of the sour cream, half of the lemon juice and zest, chives, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl and stir to combine.
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Combine the avocado, the other half of the lemon zest and juice, the remaining Tbs. of olive oil, 2 Tbs. sour cream, salt and pepper in a small food processor and puree until smooth. If you do not have a food processor, mash with a fork until very smooth and creamy. Taste and season if necessary.
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Place the pine nuts in a dry skillet. Place over a medium-low heat to toast. Shake the pan frequently to ensure even browning. Once golden all over, remove the pine nuts from the heat and transfer to a small plate to cool. Once cool, coarsely chop.
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To arrange, spoon three mounds of the tuna salad on each plate. Place one tomato half over each pile of tuna salad, cut side down, to create the look of a flower petal. Place the spring onions so they are extending down from the end of each tuna and tomato “flower” like a stem. Spoon some of the avocado puree onto each plate and garnish with the pine nuts.
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