Red Rice Frittata with Tuna and Taggiasca Olives
Our Mediterranean rice frittata: our wholegrain Cardinale, tuna, Taggiasca olives, cherry tomatoes and capers.
A Mediterranean take on the rice frittata: Wholegrain Red Rice Il Cardinale boiled al dente, good-quality tuna in oil well drained, pitted Taggiasca olives, drained cherry tomatoes, desalted capers, fresh basil and a grind of black pepper. Naturally gluten-free, lovely cold in a packed lunch. It takes 15 minutes of active work, 18 to cook the rice, 13 to cook in the pan, 10 to rest. Serve at room temperature, never piping hot.
Among the rice frittatas we like best in our home kitchens, this is the one that heads off towards the sea. No mozzarella, nothing stringy: in their place a good tuna in oil drained well, the small Taggiasca olives of western Liguria, salt-packed capers freshened up, drained cherry tomatoes and basil torn at the last. The rice, here too, is our Wholegrain Red Rice Il Cardinale: a long, red, wholegrain kernel that, boiled al dente, holds up in the batter and stays whole and visible in the frittata.
This is the frittata we cook in our kitchens when we need a one-dish meal to take away without a second thought: the tuna and olives do not release water the way mozzarella does, and after an hour resting at room temperature the slice is clean. Our logic is the same as the base version with mozzarella and tomato, but the flavour goes somewhere else: more savoury, more of the sea, better suited to anyone after a Mediterranean frittata with no fuss. Same Cardinale, another soul.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 200 g Wholegrain Red Rice Il Cardinale Acqua e Sole
- 6 fresh medium eggs
- 160 g good-quality tuna in oil (yellowfin or albacore), drained
- 150 g cherry or datterino tomatoes
- 80 g pitted Taggiasca olives
- 30 g grated Pecorino Romano (optional)
- 1 tablespoon salt-packed capers
- half a bunch fresh basil
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 L water + 1 teaspoon coarse salt (for the rice)
- to taste fine salt, black pepper
Notes from Home
- Cardinale should be drained al dente: in the frittata it cooks for another 13 minutes, so it needs to stay firm
- Good-quality tuna in oil (yellowfin or albacore), drained well, keeping a tablespoon of the oil aside for the batter
- Pitted Taggiasca olives cut in half lengthways, never chopped fine
- Salt-packed capers rinsed three times under cold water and dried, left whole
- Always less salt in the batter than in the base version: tuna, olives, capers and pecorino already bring saltiness
- Basil torn by hand at the last, never cut with a knife: the metal oxidises the leaves
Method
Cooking Cardinale al dente (18 min)
Bring 1 L of water to the boil with 1 teaspoon of coarse salt. Tip in the 200 g of Wholegrain Red Rice Il Cardinale. Cook for 18 minutes from the moment it boils, going by the packet. Drain while still al dente, a touch firmer than you would serve it in a salad: in the frittata it will cook further. Spread the rice out on a tray or a wide plate to stop the cooking, separate the grains with a fork and let it cool to lukewarm.
Preparing the tuna (3 min)
Drain the tuna well of its packing oil, keeping a tablespoon of the tuna oil aside to lift the flavour in the batter. Flake it coarsely with a fork. Do not break it up too much: in the frittata you want to feel the fibre of the fish.
Olives and capers (3 min)
Cut the Taggiasca olives in half lengthways. Rinse the salt-packed capers three times under cold running water to remove the curing salt, dry them with kitchen paper and leave them whole.
Drained tomatoes (5 min)
Wash the cherry tomatoes, dry them and cut them in half lengthways. Lay them in a sieve with a pinch of salt and let them drain for 5 minutes. Dab away the excess liquid with kitchen paper. Reducing the amount to 150 g balances the wateriness with the tuna and olives.
Basil torn by hand (2 min)
Wash and dry the leaves of half a bunch of basil. Keep 3-4 whole leaves aside for the final garnish. Tear the rest by hand at the moment of assembling: cutting with a knife oxidises the leaves and they lose their fragrance.
Egg batter (2 min)
Break the 6 eggs into a wide bowl. Beat them with a fork for 20-30 seconds, just long enough to blend the white and the yolk. Add the grated Pecorino Romano if you are using it, the tablespoon of tuna oil set aside, a scant pinch of fine salt (just a little, because tuna, olives, capers and pecorino are already savoury) and a grind of black pepper.
Assembling the batter (1 min)
Tip the lukewarm rice, the flaked tuna, the halved Taggiasca olives, the capers, the drained tomatoes and the torn basil into the bowl of eggs. Fold with a spatula from the bottom upwards, 3-4 movements, until everything is combined. Do not overwork it: the ingredients should stay distinguishable.
The pan and the first side (8 min)
Heat a 26-28 cm non-stick pan over medium heat for 1 minute. Add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and swirl the pan to coat the base and sides well. Pour in the mixture and level the surface with the spatula. Lower the heat to the minimum and cover with a lid (glass is fine, so you can see the cooking). Cook for 8 minutes without touching.
The turn onto the plate (1 min)
Take off the lid. Shake the pan gently: the frittata should move as one piece and come away from the base. The top surface is still a little glossy but set. Take a flat plate slightly wider than the pan and lay it upside down on top. With one hand on the pan and the other on the plate, flip it over with a confident move: the frittata drops onto the plate, cooked side up. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the empty pan and let it heat.
Second side (5 min)
Slide the frittata from the plate back into the pan, raw side down. Lower the heat to the minimum, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Take off the lid and press gently in the centre with the back of a spoon: the surface should be springy and firm, not liquid. Turn off the heat.
Resting and serving (10 min)
Slide the frittata onto a serving plate. Let it rest for 10 minutes uncovered at room temperature: it is in these minutes that the flavours settle and the slice becomes clean. Garnish with the whole basil leaves set aside and a grind of black pepper. Cut into slices or squares. Serve at room temperature, never piping hot.
The frittata that heads off to the sea
Here in Lumellogno we grow our rice in the Novara plain, but when it comes to our take-away frittatas our thoughts turn to the sea. The rice frittata with tuna and Taggiasca olives is a dish that home-style Italian cooking has been setting down for generations: it is born where you need a one-dish meal that holds up for hours out of the fridge, that cuts into squares, that slips into a packed lunch or a glass container for the beach. Our Cardinale, worked here in our paddy fields in Piedmont, meets tuna in oil, the small olives of western Liguria, capers and cherry tomatoes. Three territories on our plate, all Italian.
Lumellogno · western Liguria · home-style Italian cooking
Il Cardinale for take-away frittatas
Our Cardinale is the variety we always keep in our pantries when we need a dish that holds up to double cooking and an hour resting at room temperature. Boiled al dente, the long wholegrain kernel stays whole and visible in the batter, and in the 13 minutes in the pan it finishes cooking without turning to mush. We will not suggest it for risottos, that is not its calling, but for dishes where the grain needs to stay separate and make itself felt, from cold salads to our baked rice frittata, our wholegrain red makes a difference you can see and taste.
«For frittatas that go into a packed lunch we always keep Il Cardinale: boiled al dente it stands up to hours out of the fridge without going soft, the wholegrain red shows on the plate, and with the tuna and olives it does not release water the way mozzarella does. It is the right rice for the dishes that travel with us.» From the kitchen of Acqua e Sole, Lumellogno
A word of warning from our kitchen: salt in the batter always with a measured hand. Tuna, Taggiasca olives, capers and pecorino already bring a good deal of saltiness, and a heavy hand with fine salt spoils the balance. We taste the batter before pouring it into the pan and adjust with pepper more than with salt.
Questions about the tuna rice frittata
Which tuna in oil should I choose for the frittata?
Does the tuna rice frittata hold up well in a packed lunch?
Can I use leftover rice from the day before?
Suggested Pairing
To go with this Mediterranean frittata we like Piedmontese whites with good acidity and minerality, which stand up to the tuna and chat with the salty note of the olives and capers. We happily open a Cortese di Gavi DOCG, dry and of good structure, or an Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG in the still version.
For those who prefer a red drunk cool, a young Bonarda dell’Oltrepò Pavese served at 14 degrees works well with the tuna and cherry tomatoes. For the packed lunch on the beach, no wine: a glass of sparkling water with lemon is plenty.
Wholegrain Red Rice Il Cardinale Acqua e Sole
Our wholegrain red rice, grown in Lumellogno and milled on site, keeping the germ and the red pericarp. Long kernel, wholegrain fibre, good cooking hold for cold salads and frittatas. The right variety for dishes that ask for a grain that stays whole, visible and full of character even after double cooking and an hour resting at room temperature.
Bring Il Cardinale homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen in Lumellogno.