Tunisian tuna, egg and potato sandwich with harissa

Name: Tunisian tuna, egg and potato sandwich with harissa
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Tunisian Jewish
Ingredients: 220 g Bread (baguette or country loaf) (½ pareve baguette per person (2 lengths of 20–25 cm, about 110 g each); do not use a country loaf); 112 g Tuna in olive oil (160 g tin, 112 g drained) (1 tin of 160 g, well drained); 110 g Eggs (2 medium eggs, weighed without shells); 200 g Potatoes (1 large waxy potato); 140 g Tomatoes, vine or round (1 medium tomato, very ripe and firm); 80 g Jarred roasted red peppers (drained weight, about 2 wide strips); 40 g Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli) (bought pitted, about 13 olives); 10 g Capers (1 tbsp, rinsed); 15 g Harissa (1 level tbsp: 12 g for the sauce, 3 g for the mechouia; mild to medium heat); 30 g Extra virgin olive oil (3 tbsp: 12 g in the sauce, 6 g over the potatoes, 4 g in the mechouia, 8 g to drizzle over when assembling); 50 g Lemon (juice of half a small lemon, about 20 g: 10 g for the potatoes, 5 g for the sauce, a few drops over the tuna); 1 g Ground cumin (½ tsp, for the potatoes); 1 g Ground caraway (⅓ tsp: a pinch in the sauce, the rest in the mechouia); 12 g Fine salt (10 g for 1 litre potato cooking water (discarded; the potatoes retain about 1 g), 1 g over the hot potatoes and eggs, 1 g in the mechouia)

pareve fish light lunch · Tunisian Jewish · 2/5 · easy · 35 min, including 20 hands-on

The sandwich of Tunis bakeries: half a baguette soaked with olive oil and lemony harissa, filled with quick mechouia, cumin-seasoned potato, tuna in oil, hard-boiled egg, olives and capers.

Ingredients for two

220 g	Bread (baguette or country loaf) ½ pareve baguette per person (2 lengths of 20–25 cm, about 110 g each); do not use a country loaf
112 g	Tuna in olive oil (160 g tin, 112 g drained) 1 tin of 160 g, well drained
110 g	Eggs 2 medium eggs, weighed without shells
200 g	Potatoes 1 large waxy potato
140 g	Tomatoes, vine or round 1 medium tomato, very ripe and firm
80 g	Jarred roasted red peppers drained weight, about 2 wide strips
40 g	Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli) bought pitted, about 13 olives
10 g	Capers 1 tbsp, rinsed
15 g	Harissa 1 level tbsp: 12 g for the sauce, 3 g for the mechouia; mild to medium heat
30 g	Extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp: 12 g in the sauce, 6 g over the potatoes, 4 g in the mechouia, 8 g to drizzle over when assembling
50 g	Lemon juice of half a small lemon, about 20 g: 10 g for the potatoes, 5 g for the sauce, a few drops over the tuna
1 g	Ground cumin ½ tsp, for the potatoes
1 g	Ground caraway ⅓ tsp: a pinch in the sauce, the rest in the mechouia
12 g	Fine salt 10 g for 1 litre potato cooking water (discarded; the potatoes retain about 1 g), 1 g over the hot potatoes and eggs, 1 g in the mechouia

Method

Peel the potato and cut into 1.5 cm dice. Put in a 16 cm saucepan with 1 litre cold salted water (10 g salt). Put about 1 litre unsalted water in a second 16 cm saucepan for the eggs. Bring both pans to the boil over a high heat, allowing 6–7 minutes.
As soon as the egg water starts to simmer, lower in the eggs with a spoon and cook at a gentle boil for 10 minutes. Once the potato water boils, reduce to a medium heat and simmer gently for 7–9 minutes, until a knife tip enters without resistance but the cubes still hold their edges. Meanwhile, make the quick mechouia: deseed the tomato, chop finely with the drained peppers, mix in a bowl with 3 g harissa, the caraway (reserving a pinch), 1 g salt and 4 g oil, then leave to release its juices. Drain the tuna and rinse the capers.
Drain the potatoes straight away and leave to steam in the colander for 1 minute. While still hot, toss in a bowl with 10 g lemon juice, the cumin, a pinch of salt and 6 g oil, then crush very lightly with a fork so they stay in the bread. Cool the eggs in a bowl of cold water for 3 minutes, peel, cut each into 5 or 6 slices and season with a pinch of salt. Mix the remaining 12 g harissa with 12 g oil, 5 g lemon juice and the pinch of caraway until the sauce runs off a spoon.
Split each half-baguette lengthways without cutting right through and remove a handful of crumb to make room. Spread the harissa sauce over both cut surfaces. Fill with the potatoes first, then the mechouia, pressing it in the spoon to leave its juices in the bowl, followed by the flaked tuna, egg slices along the full length of the bread, and finally the olives and capers.
Finish with a drizzle of 8 g olive oil over the filling and a few drops of lemon over the tuna. Close, pressing lightly along the whole length so the oil soaks into the crumb, and serve one sandwich per person.

Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.

Fish-free

Tuna in olive oil (160 g tin, 112 g drained) → Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin) 160 g (drained weight for two fish-free sandwiches, ⅔ of a tin; the rest keeps in the fridge for 3 days)
add Eggs 110 g (1 extra egg per fish-free sandwich)
add Ground cumin 1 g (½ tsp)
add Lemon 25 g (about 10 g juice)
add Extra virgin olive oil 8 g (2 tsp)
add Fine salt 1 g (1 pinch)

For one of each: use the whole tin of tuna (112 g) in the fish sandwich, and 80 g chickpeas and 1 extra egg in the fish-free sandwich. In this case, crush just 80 g chickpeas with half the seasoning (a pinch of cumin, 5 g lemon juice, 4 g oil and a small pinch of salt); the rest of the tin keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Divide the potatoes, mechouia, sauce, olives and capers equally. Fill the fish-free bread first, using a dedicated spoon and fork.
In step 2, cook the extra egg (or both) with the others, in the same pan for the same 10 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and drain the chickpeas, then roughly crush with a fork and the cumin, lemon juice, oil and salt (half the seasoning for 80 g), leaving some texture; taste: they should be well seasoned and lemony.
In step 4, use the chickpeas instead of tuna and add slices of the extra egg along the full length; the sauce, mechouia, potatoes and final drizzle of oil remain the same.

Chickpeas with cumin and lemon, and twice as much hard-boiled egg: two classic sandwich fillings, with the same sauce, mechouia and timing.

On your plate

Recipe

752 kcal · protein 37 g · carbs 77 g · fat 30 g

Quantities per person

110 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
56 g Tuna in olive oil (160 g tin, 112 g drained)
55 g Eggs
100 g Potatoes
70 g Tomatoes, vine or round
40 g Jarred roasted red peppers
20 g Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli)
5 g Capers
7.5 g Harissa
15 g Extra virgin olive oil
25 g Lemon
0.5 g Ground cumin
0.5 g Ground caraway
6 g Fine salt

Fish-free version

852 kcal · protein 32 g · carbs 89 g · fat 38 g

Quantities per person

110 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
110 g Eggs
100 g Potatoes
70 g Tomatoes, vine or round
40 g Jarred roasted red peppers
20 g Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli)
5 g Capers
7.5 g Harissa
19 g Extra virgin olive oil
37.5 g Lemon
1 g Ground cumin
0.5 g Ground caraway
6.5 g Fine salt
80 g Tinned chickpeas (400 g tin)

Cooking tips

The full mechouia salad in the collection (salade_mechouia), made the day before, is the complete version of the filling: use 80 g per sandwich instead of the quick mechouia. For the office, cook the eggs and potatoes the day before, cool quickly and refrigerate; in the morning, fill the bread with the sauce, potatoes, tuna, eggs, olives and capers, and pack the mechouia in a small pot to add just before eating, so the bread stays firm. Keep chilled in transit and eat the same day.

Equipment : 2 saucepans, 16 cm, colander, 3 bowls, fork, bread knife, chopping board and knife

Tunisian bakery sandwich: bread soaked with oil and harissa, mechouia, potato, tuna in oil, hard-boiled egg, olives and capers.

Tunisian tuna, egg and potato sandwich with harissa

Method

Timer

On your plate

Recipe

Fish-free version

Cooking tips

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