Tuna Cakes, Preserved Lemon and Whipped Feta

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These are a treat. Tuna Cakes with whipped creamy feta and crunchy beetroot.

Tuna was a staple of my diet when I was a child, and I don’t mean lovely tuna fillets, I mean canned Tuna….With four girls in the family and my parents both working, cooking was on a roster system.  There was a great new product on the market called Risa Riso and my sister embraced this with gusto . Essentially it was a pack of  rice shaped pasta with a flavour sachet. Her version included Tuna, peas, onions , carrots , red peppers and of course cheese. It was her speciality and I always think of it when I open a large can of Tuna.

This recipe is inspired by and based on one by Karen Martini from Where the heart is. I love the recipes in this book. They are full of perfectly matched flavours, using lots of vegetables . I wanted a more chunky style ‘cake’ rather than fritters she gives the recipe for, and I wanted to incorporate preserved lemon and dukka. The result is very nice, give it a try.

Print Recipe

Tuna Cakes, Preserved Lemon and Whipped Feta

These make great party food or starters

Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 250 gm cooked mashed potato cooled 8.81 oz
• 2 x 1/4s preserved lemons cleaned
• 2 small eggs
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 250 gm tuna drained (tunaoil) -
• 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/2 small finely diced Spanish onion
• 4 Tablespoon course breadcrumbs or Panko Crumbs
• Crumbs to coat
• 1/4 cup of Dukkah
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 100 gm breadcrumbs 2 cups I used Japanese Panko crumbs
• 250 ml milk beaten with
• 1 Egg
• 150 gm flour for dusting 1 cup

Whipped Feta topping

• 100 gm creamy Danish feta
• 100 gm ricotta
• 80 ml cream or buttermilk 4 Tablespoons

Instructions

You need 1 bowl and a food processor.

• Put 1/2 the potato in to a bowl with 1/2 of the drained Tuna (leave the Tuna in lightly broken up chunks , for texture). Add the parsley, paprika and crumbs.
• In the bowl of the food processor add the preserved lemon, egg and remaining tuna and potato and puree. Combine both of the Tuna mixtures and mix well. Add a couple of extra crumbs a tablespoon at a time if the mix is a bit sticky. Don't overdo it.
• Shape into patties and chill for an hour or pop into the freezer for 15 minutes,before crumbing
• Mix the dukkah, cumin and crumbs . Flour, egg wash and crumb the cakes and chill to set.
• before cooking. Meantime

Feta whip

• Combine the Feta and Ricotta with the cream in a food processor and whizz until fluffy and combined. This is addictive and perfectly matched to these Tuna cakes.

Beetroot salad

• This beetroot salad made of raw beetroot was a big hit. I have several converts who now make this every week. Use nice fresh firm beetroots they're sweeter
• Grate the beetroot, and add the mint. In a separate bowl mix the sugar with the hot water to dissolve then add the molasses, oil , salt and till combined. Mix into the beetroot and let stand for several minutes. The combination of the salt and sugar encourage the beetroot to bleed making a very nice dressing.... that is not to be dribbled on clothing!
• Deep or shallow fry the cakes till golden. Serve with the beetroot and whipped feta.

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