I listen to A LOT of radio at work. I was listening to a show and their guest was Melissa Clark, a food columnist for the New York Times. I heard her feed the host with this dip and I needed go home and figure out how to make it… as I was unsuccessfully looking for this recipe that I never ended up finding, I fell into a wonderful, delightful rabbit hole of Melissa Clark’s food. Something about all of her recipes feel simple yet refined. I had to figure out this dip.
I had a rough idea from memory what she put in this dip and then I had to improvise with the missing pieces… the star of this dip is really good, oil-packed tuna. It’s rich and decadent but so unexpected. The tuna is accompanied by anchovies which I always am slightly grossed out by them but they add so much flavor and salt to a dish, it’s needed for that flavor punch. I added whatever fresh herbs I had on hand, this lucky weekend I had arugula and dill, plus some garlic and red onion. For the flavor definers, added was capers, dijon mustard, kalamata olive, fresh ground black pepper, salt and a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil.
Let it whirl until combined.
You will have a great and satisfying snack or meal on your hands. I love these with crackers or pretzel thins, carrots and bell peppers too! I made this for my husband and I when we escaped Los Angeles for a couple of hours. We went to see the wild poppy reserve and I knew there wasn’t going to be anywhere to eat. Luckily I thought ahead and packed this for us. We accidentally took a two hour hike and were famished afterwards. This was a great nourishing meal after hike a nice long hike.
Enjoy!
