Tuna and Pickled Onion Crostini

Tuna fish! I've always loved a good tuna fish sandwich with thinly sliced nickels of Kosher dill or perhaps bread and butter pickles tucked in--and of course a few fistfuls of Fritos on the side, with maybe a Pepsi. Here is a recipe for tuna with pickled onions, gherkins and capers meant to be spread on crostini that I also think should just be hunkered down between two slices of fresh rye bread layered with alfalfa sprouts, shredded lettuce, screaming ripe tomato, and creamy avocado! I'd never had much luck with making satisfying tuna salad myself until last year (read here about my Tuna - Surprise! from June) but this one too is an easy winner, with a jaunty touch of Tuscany, courtesy of Saveur magazine.

P.S. I wholly skipped the red peppers.

P.P.S. When nobody's looking, just eat forkfuls of the tuna mixture out of the bowl it was made in or slather it on several Saltines.

Tuna and Pickled Onion Crostini

Adapted from Saveur.com

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. salt-packed capers, soaked, drained, and finely chopped

12 pickled cocktail onions, drained and roughly chopped

8 small gherkins, finely chopped

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 jarred roasted red pepper, chopped

2 5-oz. cans tuna in water, drained

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

28 thin slices baguette, toasted

1. Using a fork, combine the first seven ingredients in a medium bowl. Gently stir in the tuna and season with salt and pepper.
2. Spread 1 tbsp. of the mixture on each slice of toast and serve at room temperature.

SERVES 6 – 8

This recipe was originally published as an online exclusive at saveur.com/issue123