Ino's Tuna with Black-Olive-Pesto Panini

While it totally irks me that what is in essence a tapenade in this preparation is being called a pesto when there is nary a leaf of basil or a clove of garlic to even begin to lend itself to the attempted yet inappropriate use of the word, the utter genius of these little sandwiches all but makes up for that transgression.

Delectably salty, crispy-crunchy, hot and oily in all the right ways, these panini are going to be recurring guests in my kitchen. One was the perfect dinner (a small salad of soft greens and halved grape tomatoes would have dotted the i most pleasingly) for me last night, but you could also halve or quarter each panino and serve them as a snack with your aperitivo.

The recipe comes from 'Ino, the adorable little sliver of a wine bar and restaurant in the West Village, where I've happily eaten many a sandwich and enjoyed the hustle and bustle around me. Two of 'Ino's recipes were printed in the New York Times Magazine a few years back, when the panino craze was sweeping restaurants and kitchens nationwide.

Unwilling to add another appliance to my collection, I bought a small grill press at my trusty Chinese restaurant supply shop yesterday, and turned my cast-iron skillet into a panino press. I used a spoon to smooth the olive mixture onto each bread slice, and my hands to carefully mound the tuna-caper berry mixture onto each panino.

A few minutes under the grill press (with a little added pressure from me that made the oil sizzle appetizingly on the hot iron), and we were ready to eat our crusty meal. The olive-tuna combination is as old as the Nicois hills, but it's always delicious. Especially when spiked with lemon zest and hot pepper flakes (not enough! be sure to add more), those artful slices of caper berries and a splash or two of Champagne vinegar.

The bread squashed itself into a perfect brick - the crust as crackly as can be, the interior barely, faintly moist. I can't wait to have another for dinner tonight.

Tuna with Black-Olive-Pesto Panini
Yields 4 panini

For the pesto:
1 cup Gaeta olives, pitted
10 caper berries, stems removed
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 cup olive oil (I couldn't stand using this much)

For the panini:
1 6-to 8-ounce can Italian tuna
6 caper berries, stems discarded, sliced into thin disks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch red pepper flakes
4 ciabatta rolls

1. Combine the pesto ingredients in a food processor; blend until just a bit chunky.

2. Combine the tuna, caper berries, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and pepper flakes in a bowl and toss. Split the ciabatta rolls in half and use 2 tablespoons of the pesto to spread on both halves of each roll. Place 1/3 cup of the tuna mixture inside.

3. Grill in a preheated sandwich press, or a George Foreman grill until nicely browned, 3 to 6 minutes. Serve warm. 

Comments

[ann]

holy cow! thanks much for this one!
i'll have to do this on a poker widow night (the boy hates canned tuna) but i will eat this, come he** or highwater

[Melissa]

Ooh, I have to second that - this sounds like dinner tonight! I was just on my way out the door to buy something when your post popped up. This is perfect for today's unusually summery temperatures...

So glad to see you're back and blogging with a vengeance!

[s'kat]

That sounds utterly addictive.

[Adrienne]

I too have longed for a pannini press, but also am unwilling to add to my appliance collection.But that grill press looks like it will do splendidly. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Rebecca]

I agree, call it tapenade and be done with it, but I guess the idea is that people don't know what that is. This spread is NOT pesto, however delicious it may be.

I've never used caper berries but I bet they're yummy.

[lobstersquad]

I didn´t want to clutter my kitchen any more, but succumbed to a sandwich press a few weeks ago, and it´s heaven. Will definitely be trying these out.

[Julie]

Count me among those who don't want one more appliance in the kitchen, but you've just opened a whole world of possibility for me with the grill press idea.

I plan to try this sandwich as soon as I purchase my grill press.

[Lindy]

I have a grill press too. And I just made a cheating version of this with some jarred tapenade which was also called "olive pesto", despite the absence of basil and garlic. It was excellent.
My theory: Everyone now knows "pesto" is something people eat. "Tapenade" is not an American common parlance term yet. Rather than expect shoppers to try something entirely new, manufacturers make it seem like a variation on something they have already eaten-or at least heard of.

It's kind of like the movies- where everything is a remake or followup to something that already succeeded.

[shaz]

looks amazing. olives are good in anything.

[Luisa]

Ann - how funny, Ben hates canned tuna, too. I don't get it!

Melissa - I hoped you liked these little sandwiches. And that you've got summery warmth up there! It's HOT here now, no-stove HOT.

S'kat - indeed. I ate all four sandwiches for lunch and dinner over the course of a few days.

Adrienne - so glad you liked that press idea! Much better than another plug-in...

Rebecca - but isn't that how pesto became fashionable? People didn't know what it was and so the exotic-ness of it made them interested? Who knows. Caper berries are yummy, texturally somewhere between a caper and a piece of okra, but with no slime.

Ximena - Let me know what you think!

Julie - glad to have opened the panino door. I too am excited by the possibilities, mozzarella and tomatoes being the next on my list.

Lindy - I am thrilled that you tried this so soon and liked it.

Shaz - I agree! And I know have three tubs of different olives swimming about my fridge ;)

[lobstersquad]

They were excellent, thank you!

[Saffron]

I'll definetely try this sandwich..tasty-tasty-tasty!
I went to Gaeta last weekend so I have fresh olives! Kisses from Italy

[Irena Simkova]

Pesto does not mean only basil and garlick but any ingrediens pounded in mortar which is original way how to do it. Nowadays we use food processor to make it faster but try once real pesto made in w
ooden mortar(not metall)!!!
Pestare in italian means poud,grind,beat

[Generic Viagra]

That tuna sandwich looks delicious ! thanks

Elizabeth D.Taylor

[Collectors Stamps]

Burritos are my favorite mexican food ever , thanks for the recipe.