When I lived as a student outside Florence, Italy, I was always on the lookout for great lunches that I could afford. We were fed dinner through my program (always pasta, always red sauce), but at lunch we were left to fend for ourselves. While I would have loved to frequent the wood-burning pizza restaurant down the street or twirled spaghetti at the trattoria on the square, these options were well outside my meager budget.
In time, I discovered that I could eat like royalty thanks to the local alimentari. Alimentari are the Italian versions of a deli or bodega with a decidedly gourmet bent. They vary in what they stock, but the one I frequented sold a little of everything—cat food, toilet paper, sliced-to-order salami and prosciutto, fresh pasta, cheeses, and most important to this starving student: salads. There, I discovered a tuna-based salad so incredible that I still make it weekly for lunch.
This Italian tuna salad was the antithesis of my mom’s monochrome white tuna and mayonnaise “salad.” It was a brightly colored, vibrant-tasting, chunky tumble of moist tuna, roasted red bell peppers, tangy kalamata olives, minced red onion, parsley, and toasted pine nuts in a lemony vinaigrette. It was so awesome I bought a small container of it almost every day for a year and even got to know the sweet mom-and-pop proprietors, who gave me a metal fork to keep and use to eat my daily salad, knowing I was kitchenless.
Simply Recipes / Ali Redmond
Key Ingredients for This Tuna Salad
The key to this salad is in the shopping. You must use olive oil-packed tuna. A more common sight in Europe, it’s moister than water-packed tuna and comes with all the olive oil you need to dress the salad, right there in the can.
If I’m feeling flush, I buy Spanish brand Ortiz tuna in the oval can. It’s a near-solid chunk of meaty tuna with a fresh flavor packed in buttery extra-virgin olive oil. But, at around $6.99 a can, it’s a splurge. In most cases, I opt for a more economical choice of tuna packed in olive oil like imported Italian Genova ($2.49), Starkist ($1.99), or Target’s Good and Gather brand ($2.99)—they all make a fine salad.
The trick is to refrain from draining the tuna. The olive oil in the can has tons of flavor and serves as half of the dressing for the salad. I add just a tablespoon of lemon juice to balance out the oil and the dressing is done.
As for the vegetable mix-ins, I stick to the same ingredients as the salad I remember from Florence: roasted red bell peppers, pitted kalamata olives, red onion, Italian parsley, and pine nuts. But truthfully, it’s a very adaptable equation. Toasted blanched almonds are a thrifty alternative to the pine nuts. Fresh bell peppers or peppadews can be substituted for the roasted bell peppers. I’ve even used canned California olives in a pinch when I’m kalamata-free.
The most important thing is the olive oil-packed tuna. With that in the pantry, I can relive my not-so-starving student salad days at a moment’s notice.
Simply Recipes / Ali Redmond
How To Make My Italian-Style Tuna Salad
To make two servings, you’ll need:
- 1 (4 to 5-ounce) can tuna packed in olive oil (undrained)
- 1/2 cup drained jarred roasted red bell peppers, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley or basil
- 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon minced red onion or shallot
- 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pour the tuna and olive oil from the can into a small bowl. Add the peppers, olives, parsley, pine nuts, onions or shallots, and lemon juice or vinegar to the bowl and toss gently with a fork, making sure not to break up the tuna too much. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Leftover tuna salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
More Easy Lunches
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