BAKED TUNA FISHCAKES

These are big, proper baked tuna fishcakes that I’d be proud to serve up at my pub. Make sure you buy really good-quality tuna – it will make all the difference. Baking the potatoes first, rather than boiling them, keeps in the flavour and moisture so they are less likely to dry out as you cook the ﬁsh cakes.

INGREDIENTS

SERVES: 4

4 medium baking potatoes (800g)

4 spring onions, ﬁnely sliced

50g gherkins, ﬁnely chopped

2 tbsp baby capers

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

A handful of ﬂat-leaf parsley leaves, ﬁnely chopped

250g good-quality tinned albacore tuna (in spring water)

Olive oil spray

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To coat:

1 large free-range egg, beaten

70g dry white breadcrumbs (made from one-day old bread)

To serve:

Lemon wedges

Watercress

Herb dressing (optional)

METHOD

1: Preheat the oven to fan 200°C/gas 6. Cook the potatoes on a baking tray in the oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until soft right through. Remove and set aside to cool. (Turn off the oven.)

2: Spoon out the potato ﬂesh into a large bowl and mash it roughly. Add the spring onions, gherkins, capers, mustard, lemon zest and parsley. Season generously with salt and pepper and mix well. Drain the tuna, then gently fold it in, being careful not to break it up too much.

3: Divide the mixture into 4 portions and shape into patties. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours to ﬁrm up (overnight is ﬁne).

4: When you’re ready to cook the ﬁsh cakes, heat the oven to fan 200°C/gas 6. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and spray it with oil. Have the beaten egg and breadcrumbs ready in separate shallow bowls; season both with salt and pepper.

5: Coat each ﬁsh cake ﬁrst in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs, making sure they are coated all over. Place the ﬁsh cakes on the prepared tray and spray each one with oil. Cook for 15 minutes, then ﬂip each ﬁsh cake over and cook for another 15 minutes.

6: Serve hot, with lemon wedges and watercress, dressed with herb dressing if you wish.

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