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Tuna Fricasses


tuna fricasses

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Tuna Fricasses
11th May, 2018

Fricasse from Tunisia are small fried brioche sandwiches with a savoury tuna filling. The filling's really are the taste of Tunisia with harrisa, tuna, black olives, hard-boiled egg, and Felfel.

The dough itself is simple enough to make but if you haven't got the time then you could buy small brioche rolls from the shop but to be honest; the dish won't be as good/p>

Ingredients

  • For the fricassee rolls:
  • 7 g active yeast
  • 125mls lukewarm water
  • 400g plain flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • vegetable oil, for deep-frying
  • For the Felfel salad:
  • 3 red peppers
  • 3 green peppers
  • 1/4 tsp chilli paste
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Olive oil
  • For the fillings:
  • Harissa, to taste
  • 5 x 185g cans good-quality tuna, drained and flaked
  • 4 cold hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
  • Stoned black olives
  • 500g cooked potatoes, sliced
  • 2tbsp capers, rinsed and patted dry

    Method

    You can make the Felfel and the other toppings beforehand to save time but the Felfel can be made while the bread is proving for the first time and the toppings can be made during the second proof.

    To make the fricassee rolls, mix together the yeast, water and 1 tablespoon of the flour in a large bowl and leave this to one side until the yeast is activated and you get lots of bubbles which will take about 10 to 15 minutes at a warm temperature

    Once you got lots of bubbles, add all the remaining ingredients into the large bowl and bring it all together with your hands. On a lightly floured surface, tip out the mix and you'll want to knead it for about 5 minutes until you've got a well formed dough ball shape.

    Pop the dough back into the mixing bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and let rise for about one hour in a warm place. After, gently knock back the dough by kneading again for a minute and divide the dough into equal sized pieces, rolling each piece into the shape and size of a fat sausage. Place these on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper and once again, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise again in a warm place until they've doubled in size

    To make the Felfel you need to slice the peppers in half and de-seed before oiling the skins. Cover the tomatoes in oil as well and place all these ingredients onto a roasting tray. Pop in the grill on a high heat 10 minutes until the skins blacken. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit before peeling the skins of the pepper

    The peppers, once the skins have been removed can be roughly chopped and the tomatoes need to be crushed so do the tomatoes in a bowl

    In a frying pan, warm some oil over a low heat begin to gently fry the crushed garlic for a few minutes. Now add in the chopped peppers, crushed garlic and the chili paste and continue to cook and stir for a few minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside

    It's time to fry off the bread roll now so be a bit careful with this step. Using a deep fryer or a deep pan, warm the oil to 180 C. When the oil is the right temperature carefully add a few of the proven rolls into the oil and fry for a few minutes each side. They should be nice and golden all over. Remove with a slotted spoon, place on paper towels to drain any excess oil and keep them warm in the oven. Repeat this until you've made all the bread rolls.

    To make the sandwiches, split a warm roll with a sharp knife and spread the base with harissa, Working in layers, first sprinkle over the tuna, the sliced eggs, olives, sliced potatoes, a few capers and a spoonful of Felfel salad