Spicy Tuna Niño Envuelto with Tomato
Spicy Tuna Niño Envuelto with Tomato
Everything that's old is new again. It's like a tuna melt, but for summer.
You made it to the last recipe of emparedado SZN! Thank you for joining me on this journey of portable greatness. To celebrate the last recipe, I thought I’d bring you along to my childhood-long career attending kid birthday parties in Vallarta.
Niños envueltos always had the starring role at the type of outdoor birthday parties that had a huge clay-pot piñata hanging from a tree. The niño was always alongside the party staple dishes such as sopa fría de codito con elote (cold macaroni salad with corn), agua de jamaica (hibiscus agua fresca), and gelatina de mosaico (a multi-colored gelatin dessert).
Niño envuelto is the type of sandwich that literally translates to “wrapped child.” So extra, yet so cute! It is a sandwich in a very fundamental way, but it is made with layers of crustless white bread that are rolled into a “dough” and then shaped into a jelly roll cake of sorts (see this fine video for yourself). Canned tuna is usually pureed into a creamy spread that goes in as the filling. There were also niños envueltos filled with ham and cheese. Obviously, tuna was always my number one.
The squishy and chewy texture of white bread is what I really want to celebrate with this emparedado recipe, but without losing the structure of a layered sandwich. The tuna is not pureed in this recipe as it is traditionally done in a niño envuelto for the five-year-old crowd. Instead, I fold the tuna into a creamy and spicy sauce made with mayo, chipotles in adobo, and a splash of red wine vinegar to give it some brightness. A third slice of crustless bread goes in the middle to provide a lift for the creamy and juicy components, while the cheese adheres to the layers, giving you major tuna melt vibes.
There is no rolling in this layered and stacked emparedado, but where I truly break with tradition is by adding seasoned, ripe but firm sliced tomatoes for much more needed depth and freshness. I regret nothing!
On this week’s mixtape, everyone’s favorite taco editor and punk rock writer, aka my husband, makes an appearance as my first guest DJ! He curated this playlist for the perfect niño envuelto vibes.
P.S. Drop me a note if you’re interested in curating a future mixtape for Fresca!
Big tomato news: My muse and tomato goddess, Martha Holmberg’s brand new cookbook “Simply Tomato” is out now! If you are obsessed with peak tomatoes as much as I am, then you need Martha’s new book for all the tomato drinks, snacks, and dishes you can dream of. You can order it from Now Serving or from your favorite independent bookstore.
If you loved emparedado SZN, it would mean the world to me if you consider becoming a paid subscriber for $5/month. You’ll gain access to the Fresca recipe archives and to my next seasonal recipe drop! Your paid subscription covers my ridiculous grocery expenses, so many hours of recipe development, testing, shooting, and all the resources that go into creating Fresca for you. MIL GRACIAS!