Tuna Cakes

These delicious patties are a regular dish in our house. The recipe comes from Julie Stafford’s book Taste of Life. It is very low in fat. In the recipe it says to use egg whites. I use the whole egg instead for dipping before rolling in the breadcrumbs (I also add the whole egg to the tuna cake mix). Be aware though, that egg yolks are high in cholesterol.

Makes 12

250g tuna in water, drained
4 large potatoes
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1/2 lemon
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg white unbeaten
black pepper to taste
wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 extra egg white and water

Peel potatoes and boil until tender. Drain most of excess moisture away and mash. Leave to cool. Add tuna to potato and squeeze lemon juice over. Add spring onions, carrots, ricotta cheese, unbeaten egg white and black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Take spoonfuls and roll in hands, then dip in egg white and water and roll in breadcrumbs. Shape into round cakes approximately 7cm in diameter. Set the cakes to chill and firm in the refrigerator for 2 hours prior to cooking. This should prevent the cakes from losing the breadcrumb mixture in the cooking. Dry bake in a non-stick frying pan on moderate heat for 4 minutes either side or until golden brown.

* I use just a tiny bit of good quality olive oil to lightly fry these patties, I don’t like dry frying

*Serve with a salad of your choice