Canned tuna is a food that all Italians keep in their pantry and use very often in many recipes. It is a fairly inexpensive, simple and above all versatile food, which allows us to take the right caloric and nutritional intake without sacrificing taste. With canned tuna it is possible to create a varied menu with always tasty and innovative preparations. It can be used to enrich both starter dishes, but it also looks great on first and second courses. Appetizers instead, our trusted chefs advise us to try and then taste these simple appetizers but it will leave us and our guests speechless.
Their favorite is tuna mousse, which is quick to make with canned tuna, ricotta and mayonnaise. Other ideas to use during our appetizers are the breadsticks with tuna and ham cream and the tuna canapes with pink sauce: for the first one just has to prepare a tuna cream and mayonnaise but put on the breadstick, to the second idea is rather to combine the rosée sauce and the canned tuna then spread it on croutons. As for starters, there are many recipes where tuna is king. You can prepare pasta, couscous rice and even tuna polenta.
The first dish that comes to mind is rich tuna pasta: it is tuna pasta enriched with tomato sauce, olives, capers, onions and much more. Another excellent first course to enjoy especially in the warmer months is cold pasta with pesto and tuna. It is based on the combination of canned tuna with Genoese pesto, a typical preparation of Ligurian culinary culture. The main courses, on the other hand, according to our chefs, are much more delicious and appreciated by the customers of their restaurants. They feel they can recommend what they call “the best recipes”.
First there are the tuna balls: very quick to prepare, just prepare the typical paste that we all know by adding a can of tuna. Another must are stuffed vegetables with tuna: usually chefs use bell peppers, zucchini or aubergines that are stuffed with a mixture similar to meatballs. As we have read, tuna is truly a versatile food, able to save us lunch or dinner in many different ways without ever making us give up enjoying a good dish.