I was in my pantry the other day looking for inspiration on what to make for lunch and some cans of tuna and artichokes caught my eye. They, I thought, when mixed with complementary ingredients could be used to make sumptuous melts.
In culinary terms, a melt is a hot sandwich made with a range of fillings or toppings rich with types of cheese that deliciously melt when heated.
I say fillings and toppings because a melt, depending on the style you’re making, can be a closed, hot sandwich, or an open-faced one, the latter being what I made.
To make the topping for it, I blended cream cheese with a bit of mayonnaise and flavourings, including lemon juice, garlic, herbs and splashes of Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire. The next step was to mix in some sliced green onion, chopped, canned artichoke hearts and some canned, flaked albacore tuna.
The tuna/artichoke mixture for my melts was then spread on thick slices of French bread and adorned with some grated havarti and Parmesan cheeses. The melts were then baked, and then broiled until piping hot, crisp on the bottom, light golden on top, and very delicious.
To make a fine lunch of the melts, plate and serve them with a mixed green salad and, if you’re in the mood for it, glasses of sparking wine or rose.
As in many of my past recipes using canned albacore tuna, the type I used in today’s recipe was prepared at St. Jean’s Cannery in Nanaimo. It’s a premium, no-water-added product sold at some grocery stores and seafood stores under the St. Jean’s Cannery brand and other ones, such as Raincoast Trading. If you can’t find it, you could use another type of sustainably caught canned tuna.
With regard to the French bread and havarti cheese, if you didn’t want use one or both of those, you could certainly use another type of bread and/or cheese for the melts. For suggestions on that, see the Eric’s options part of the recipe.
Cheesy Albacore Tuna Artichokes Melts
Thick slices of French bread are spread with a cheesy tuna/artichoke mixture, baked, then broiled, until hot, rich and delicious.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Makes: four servings
1 (250 gram) brick regular or light cream cheese, at room temperature
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 medium garlic clove, minced, or 1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried tarragon or oregano
• a few splashes Tabasco sauce and Worcestershire sauce
• salt to taste
1 (150 gram) can B.C. albacore tuna, or 1 (170 gram) chunk tuna, drained well and coarsely flaked
1 (14 oz./398 mL) can artichokes hearts, drained well and coarsely chopped (see Note 1)
1 large green onion, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced, widthwise
4 (about 1-inch thick, 5-inch long, 3-inch wide) slices French bread (see Note 2 and Eric’s options)
1/2 cup grated plain or herb-flavoured havarti cheese (see Eric options)
2 to 3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• chopped fresh parsley, to taste
Place the cream cheese in a bowl and beat until lightened. Now beat in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, garlic, tarragon (or oregano), Tabasco, Worcestershire and salt. Now, with a spatula, mix the tuna, artichokes and green onions into the cream cheese mixture.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set the bread slices on the baking sheet.
Divide and spread the top of each bread slice with some of the tuna/artichoke mixture. Divide and top the tuna/artichoke mixture with the havarti and Parmesan cheeses.
Bake the melts in the middle of the oven 10 minutes. Turn the oven to broil, and then broil the melts until light golden on top, about two minutes. Plate the melts, sprinkle with parsley and serve.
Note 1: After draining the artichoke hearts, before chopping them, over a sink, give each artichoke heart a good squeeze to remove any excess water in it.
Note 2: Loaves of French bread are sold in the bakery section of most supermarkets. If you wanted to make your own, here's my recipe for a rustic French-style loaf.
Eric’s options: Instead of French bread, try another similar sized, oval slice of bread for the melts, such as Italian bread or whole wheat. Instead of havarti, try another type of cheese on the melts, such as aged cheddar, Gouda or Swiss.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
