April 15, 2017

Brought to you by Al Alali Tuna...

A spin on the classic Shawerma

I was so excited when Al Alali got in touch me and informed me about their plan to launch a new flavoured Shawerma line. They told me they are bringing 3 amazing new flavours of shawerma to the market, one of which is Shawerma Tuna, the second Kapseh Tuna and also the Curry Tuna. As you can see they have chosen 3 very delicious flavours, all of which are very dear flavours to this part of the world. I was instantly excited and definitely on for developing recipes for them as requested. I of course chose Shawerma flavour 🙂 Shawerma is an amazing flavour and I am all for bringing new to the old and building on tradition. So while I shared with you the recipes of the traditional Meat & Chicken Shawerma in my book Plated Heirlooms, this tuna shawerma was going to complete that set, so we have shawerma of all the main meat types. What is not to love!

As such I had asked for a sampler to test out the flavour and experiment with some recipes. I was instantly in love, when I tasted the Shawerma flavoured tuna. I had it with bread as is, in a salad, with pasta, cold, cooked, heated, baked… and every time, any how, I just loved it.

This right here is a flavorful spin on the classic shawerma by all means. One that highlights the new and delicious Alali Shawerma Tuna. I am not just saying this, I really enjoyed the flavour of the shawerma tuna, Al Alali did a great job there.

I eventually developed 4 main recipes using this shawerma flavoured tuna. But until today I am working it out in a variety of ways, I just love it. I am sharing with you those recipes on the links at the end of this post. And of course I am starting with this beautiful snack that I just find myself making very often, because I just love munching on these beautiful flavours and it is a super healthy snack that you too will love. You can serve this as a pretty starter to any seafood meal. And it is also an excellent option for pass around and cocktail parties, just place it on mini plates and serve with small forks for your guests to enjoy as they sip on their drinks. Here is how I made it, and also a little video that explains to you the different types of tuna used by Al Alali. I thought this little video is very informative to know in general the different types of outstanding tuna fish used for canning.

Ingredients

2 cans Al Alali Shawerma Tuna
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into thick disks
1 large eggplant, peeled, diced and fried
1 small head cauliflower cut into flowerets and fried
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp DS Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp pine nuts. toasted
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp dried coriander
1 bunch dills, chopped
a dash of balsamic vinegar

Start by slicing the sweet potato into thick disks. Place the sweet potato disks on a baking sheet in 1 layer. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and black pepper and roast in a high oven until cooked through and slightly browned. (About 30 mins)

Drain the tuna.

In a skillet, sauté the onion, minced garlic in olive oil until translucent, add the fried eggplants and cauliflower and sauté slightly, then add the tuna and mix all well.

Remove from heat and stir in the spices and pine nuts. Mix all well together.

You can place each disk over a small plate or arrange them on one large platter.

Spoon the tuna and vegetable filling on top of each sweet potato disk.