This isn’t your typical tuna bake – it’s more like a savoury slice (no pasta in sight!). Top with asparagus then finish with cheese for an irresistible golden top.

Royce’s reaction when he heard I’d been cooking with canned tuna and asparagus: “Yuck, you can throw that meal straight in the bin!”.

I waited a day before I served a couple of different versions of the tuna bake up for dinner – he very rarely asks what’s on his plate before tucking in, and I knew our conversation would have been long forgotten by then!

When I asked him which version of the “slice” he liked better, he responded, “I don’t know, I liked them both”. Didn’t even realise it was tuna he’d been eating. Yessss, successfully tricked him again! (Couldn’t quite get away with the asparagus though – he realised what he’d eaten as soon as he went for a pee later that evening!!)

The base of the recipe is actually quite similar to my easy veggie slice, which is one of the most popular Y.U.M recipes.

And if those two things still don’t convince you to give this recipe a try as is, don’t worry! There are some great substitutions you can make that don’t involve tuna or asparagus. Check out the recipe notes for more details.

The salad also deserves a quick mention – it’s really yummy! If you are making this meal as part of Menu 74 and have some bocconcini left over from the Italian Meatball Soup, it makes a great addition to this salad.

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TUNA BAKE

Keyword: FISH, MAIN MEALS

Difficulty: Easy

Ready In: 1 hour

Serves: 4

This isn’t your typical tuna bake - it’s more like a savoury slice (no pasta in sight!). Top with asparagus then finish with cheese for an irresistible golden top.

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Ingredients

TUNA BAKE

60 g butter (2.1oz)
3 spring onions
185 g can tuna in spring water, drained (6.5oz)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (375ml)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup brown rice flour (60g)
1/3 cup plain flour (50g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cracked pepper
340 g can asparagus spears, drained (12oz)
1/2 cup grated tasty cheddar cheese (50g)
4 Tbsp tomato relish

SALAD

2 Tbsp pinenuts
1/2 cup semi-dried or sundried tomatoes (75g)
1 avocado
1 spring onion
100 g mesclun lettuce or rocket (3.5oz)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

PREPARE TUNA BAKE
Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F) fan bake. Line a rectangular metal baking tin (approximately 18cm x 28cm / 7in x 11in) with baking paper.
Melt butter in a small bowl. Finely slice spring onions and flake tuna into small pieces. Crack eggs into a large bowl and lightly whisk. Add milk, mustard, flours, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, butter, onions and tuna to eggs. Whisk until well combined.
Pour mixture into prepared tin. Arrange asparagus spears on top, then sprinkle over the cheese. Bake for 35 minutes, until golden brown and set.
MAKE SALAD
Meanwhile, place a small frying pan over medium heat and add pinenuts. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until toasted. Remove from heat and set aside.
Roughly chop sundried tomatoes, slice avocado and thinly slice spring onions. Combine in a large salad bowl with lettuce. Whisk together lemon juice, oil and sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle over the salad, then sprinkle pinenuts on top.
SERVE
Remove tuna bake from oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Cut into portions and serve with salad and relish.

Recipe Notes

WINE MATCH: A Sauvignon Blanc.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Replace plain flour with plain gluten-free flour. Make sure your baking powder and relish are gluten-free.
INGREDIENT SWAPS / NOTES: You can replace butter with 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil. If you don’t have brown rice flour, use all plain flour instead. For this meal, I like to use sundried tomatoes from the chilled section of the supermarket - they don’t tend to have so much oil, so work well in a lighter salad.
OTHER FLAVOUR OPTIONS: If you’re not keen on tuna or asparagus, try diced bacon (150g / 5.3oz) and baby spinach (60g / 2.1oz) instead. Shredded cooked chicken (200g / 7oz) and whole corn kernels (400g / 14oz can, drained) are another good option.
STORING AND REHEATING: Store individual portions in containers in the refrigerator, separate from salad. Tuna bake can be reheated in the microwave or oven (but using the oven crisps up that lovely golden top!). Salad is best when dressed just before serving.