2021 Vuelta - Stage 7: Gandia to Balcón de Alicante
The riders will spend a final day along the coast in the Valencia region, home to this tasty tomato appetizer. While most coastal routes are flat, every once-in-a-while you get a nice mountain stage just off the coast and that is what the raiders will be faced with today. We are square within the height of tomato season. Any market you go to is now teeming with ripe delicious red fruits. I found this recipe in a new book I purchased in preparation for this culinary ridealong, simply entitled “Spain: the Cookbook”, and has nearly 1,100 recipes within its voluminous 900+ pages. It’s a big mammer-jammer. I made the recipe as-written and found that the sardines are very fish forward in this dish. It wasn’t off-putting, just a bit assertive. Below, I suggest using tuna instead as it will be more palatable for a crowd.
Tuna-stuffed Tomatoes
adapted from Spain: the Cookbook, Simone and Inéz Ortega
4 medium, ripe tomatoes
Maldon or other sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
Green pepper
~8 oz. jar of tuna in olive oil (Ortiz preferred) or 2 tins of King Oscar boneless sardines
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp safflower/sunflower/pumpkin seed, or other light oil
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
Pinch of freshly minced parsley
Pimento-stuffed green olives
Lemon
Slice the tops off the tomatoes and remove the core and seeds, carefully, using a spoon. Drain the cavities and season with sea salt. Place upside down on a plate to drain for an hour.
Meanwhile, finely dice the green pepper and sauté it in a tablespoon of olive oil, for about 8-10 minutes. Be careful to only soften the peppers, adjusting the heat as necessary to try not to brown them.
In a medium bowl whisk together the vinegar, light oil, mustard and parsley. Mix in the cooked peppers and tuna, breaking the fish apart. Season with salt and black pepper. Place the bowl in the fridge.
Once the tomatoes have sat for an hour, flip them over and stuff with the chilled tuna/sardine filling. Place back in the fridge to continue chilling, for about an hour.
At serving time, slice a handful of the olives and sprinkle them on top with a scant amount of fresh lemon juice. Garnish with more minced parsley, and a small amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice. ______________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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