Tuna Sandwiches Libyan-Style
A tuna sandwich is a staple Libyan dish that I grew up eating every week! It’s the perfect picnic food that literally takes about 10 minutes to make from start to end. French bread loafs are filled with a lemony tuna mix, lots of spicy harissa, and two classic veggies – tomatoes and olives. It truly is simplicity at it’s finest! No mayo in sight.
Preparing the Tuna
For the tuna, we will be using canned tuna. You want to make sure to get the highest quality you can find and make sure it’s preserved in olive oil, not water. Fun fact, whenever my dad goes back to Libya to visit, he comes back with cans of tuna for all his family and friends in America. The tuna fished in the Mediterranean is just so much better so make sure to get the best you can find here.
Drain the can of tuna and then you’ll add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. That’s literally it. Just make sure you’re also using high quality olive oil if you really want it to bring some flavor in.
The Harissa
What truly makes this tuna sandwich different than tuna sandwiches you might be used to besides the lack of mayo is the harissa! It’s the most important ingredient in a tuna sandwich in my opinion. I grew up not liking fish at all, like I refused to eat it but I would be eating tuna sandwiches all the time. I always thought it was the harissa that masked any fishiness taste and I’m not sure if that actually is true but it’s just so flavorful and the flavors blend so well together.
For the harissa, you have three options:
- Make harissa from scratch: It’s actually pretty easy to make it from scratch and there is a recipe on the blog to do so. It takes about 30 minutes and you end up with a big jar of it.
- Use sriracha instead: We did this all the time whenever we didn’t have harissa.
- Use sambal: This is the closest thing to harissa in terms of consistency and flavor. It’s a Vietnamese hot sauce/paste you can find in most stores.
Assembling the Sandwiches
Now that we’ve covered the tuna and harissa, it’s time to put the sandwich together.
For the bread, French baguette is the best way to go but feel free to use whatever you like! I grew up going to Lee’s Sandwiches and getting baguettes from there. The French bread from Vietnamese bakeries are the best!
Start out by warming the bread.
This first step is optional but I recently learned it from my mother-in-law. She adds a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in the bread after slicing it open.
After that, spread a layer of hummus on one side and a layer of harissa on the other. Depending on how spicy you like it, add as much or as little harissa as you’d like. The hummus part is actually not traditional at all but my brother started adding it to his sandwiches and now it’s the only way I make them.
Then add the tuna, sliced tomatoes, and sliced black olives. Seal it up and now just enjoy!
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Main Course
Tuna Sandwiches Libyan-Style
Ingredients
- 5 ounce tuna can, drained
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- lemon juice, to taste
- pinch of salt, to taste
- pinch of black pepper, to taste
- hummus
- black olives, sliced
- tomatoes, sliced
- harissa or sriracha
- French Bread
Instructions
- Drain the can of tuna and add it to a bowl.
- To the tuna, add olive oil, salt, black pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Mix together to combine.
- Slice open warm French bread and on one side, spread a layer of hummus and on another side, spread a layer of harissa.
- Add the tuna, sliced tomatoes, and black olives.
- Close the sandwich and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- My favorite brand of tuna to use is Genova. My mom only buys the cans of tuna in olive oil, not water! She then drains it and adds her own olive oil to freshen it up.
- Using harissa is the most traditional way but growing up we'd always use Sriracha in its place if we didn't have harissa on hand. You can also use Sambal which tastes the most similar to harissa and has the same consistency.
- Hummus is not traditional in Libyan tuna sandwiches but my brother would always make it with hummus and now it's my favorite way to enjoy it! So good.
- I learned a trick from my mother in law to add a drizzle of very high quality extra virgin olive oil on the inside of the bread before adding the filling and sauce. It adds so much flavor.
- My favorite French bread to use is the one from Lee's Baguettes or any Vietnamese bakery. Feel free to use any bread you see fit though.
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WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS RECIPE?
HI, I’M HAJAR
Welcome to Moribyan! This is my blog where I love to share all my favorite recipes and lifestyle tips with you all. If I’m not cooking here, I’m either at Trader Joe’s, the gym, or eating a bagel.
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Made a pared down version of this sandwich. I didn’t have hummus, and I’ve never met an olive that I liked so I skipped out on those ingredients while substituting harissa for sambal since I had that on hand. It kind of sounds like I made a different sandwich with my adaptations, but I think the tuna and spice are probably meant to be the dominant flavors and they certainly come through! It’s quite good! It takes minimal effort to make while still delivering on taste. I can prepare this AND finish eating it in less than 30 minutes which makes it the perfect quick lunch while working from home so I’ve already made it a few times!
Appreciate the pointers on what we can use to substitute in the case we don’t have harissa. I’m glad I gave it a try, and now I’m curious about trying it with harissa.