Tuna Surprise

This one was a complete shot in the dark.  I had been flipping through an older cookbook- one of those infamous church organization cookbooks-and I saw this recipe for Tuna Patties.  I don’t know what made me look at it more than once, but when I did, I saw that there were very few ingredients, and made a mental note of how much tuna I needed to make it.  Fast forward a few days…Andy needed something to do, and I had a basement pantry that needed to be organized.  So he went to work, cleaning and organizing my Kitchen Annex. (And de-spidering, a big must with a basement pantry!) As I walked past him while he was working, my eyes caught site of a large pouch of tuna that I didn’t even know we had! I made a note of how big it was, consulted my cookbook, and put Tuna Patties on the menu.

Yesterday was the day, and I went back and forth a little while on how I was going to serve them, and ultimately, decided that they needed to go on a bun.  If I was going to convince my kids to even take a bite, they needed to resemble the infamous Crabbie Patties.  Earlier in the day, I took the time to put together a batch of Beautiful Burger Buns, adding an egg wash and sesame seeds to the buns.  The tuna patties themselves came together in a flash.  With everything else prepared, these are easily a 15-minute dinner!  I mixed everything together, and pan-fried it into patties.  That’s it.  They were served up on a bun-with ketchup for the kids, tartar sauce for the grown-ups, and we had a surprisingly delicious dinner with very little effort.

Abigail ate her entire tuna burger, and Zander made a good effort before deciding that he didn’t care for the tuna- but he’d already taken a good eight or ten bites.   Andy and I were both pleasantly surprised.  These were very good- and yes, they tasted like tuna, but more than just a tuna sandwich.  We will most definitely keep these Tuna Patties on the radar for a quick and easy dinner- or lunch for that matter! These were a great way to use up a pantry staple that really needed to be used before it expired.  If you find yourself with a surplus of tuna- try these out, you won’t be disappointed.

Tuna Patties

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the tuna, saltines, eggs, 1/4 cup milk, onion, parsley, worcestershire and salt and pepper.  Mix together well.  Add more milk, if needed, to give the mixture a moist meat-loaf like consistency.

Heat oil to medium heat in a non-stick skillet.  Shape the tuna mixture into six patties, and pan-fry over medium heat until both sides are nicely browned- about 4 minutes per side.  Hold finished patties in a 200ºF oven while cooking the rest.

Serve with tartar sauce and buns, if desired.