Quarantine Recipes: A Classic Tuna Melt, Senator not Included

There have been a few takes on the tuna melt, a popular dish to make the viral rounds on the internet this past week. Some appetizing and some, not so much.

We wanted to share a recipe that is sure to cure any quarantine blues you may have and take any standard tuna melt you might have made in the past, up a notch. “This is dedicated to all those chefs who tell you to never, ever mix fish and cheese together; and yet there they are, at the diner at 2:00 in the morning. And you know what they eat? Tuna melts. And the reason they do is because it is delicious.” – From the chef

1) Place tuna into a mixing bowl and lightly break apart with a fork. Add green onion, celery, capers, chile paste, and mayonnaise.
2) Pinch small pieces from mozzarella cheese into the tuna salad and stir to mix.
3) Season with salt and black pepper; refrigerate tuna salad until needed.
4) Heat oven’s broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
5) Spread butter generously on both sides of French bread slices.
6) Broil buttered bread until golden brown on top, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip bread slices and broil other side until toasted, 2 to 3 more minutes.
7) Remove from oven and turn bread slices over on the baking sheet so the darkest sides are on the bottom.

Gently spread tuna salad onto bread slices using 2 forks. Press the salad onto the bread and spread tuna all the way to the edges of the bread. Spread shredded sharp Cheddar over each sandwich. Dust tops with cayenne pepper.

Place sandwiches under broiler and cook until cheese is melted and bubbling, 5 to 6 minutes.
Per Serving: 593 calories; 39.5 g fat; 22.9 g carbohydrates; 36.4 g protein; 82 mg cholesterol; 918 mg sodium.

Now you know how to cook better than a US senator and have another easy recipe to add to your arsenal during this time indoors, and for the future as well.