Pairing two simple-to-make comfort foods mashed potatoes and tuna salad makes for a perfect brunch or even dinner party entrée: the “jelly roll” must be made ahead (no last-minute work), most people have never sampled anything like this, and, of course, it’s absolutely delicious. Try to pick up some bottled ají amarillo paste for this if you can not only will it make the dish authentically Peruvian, it will color the potatoes a vibrant yellow.
Ingredients
For the Mashed Potatoes
- 4 large Idaho (baking) potatoes (about 31/3 pounds), scrubbed
- 6 tablespoons aji amarillo paste or 1/3 cup Improvised Ají Amarillo Puree
- Kosher or fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
For the tuna Filling
- Two 12-ounce cans solid white albacore tuna in water, thoroughly drained
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought
- 1 stalk celery, cut into ¼-inch dice (about ½ cup)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ jalapeño, with or without seeds, finely chopped
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- ½ Hass avocado, pitted, peeled, and cut lengthwise into ¼-inch slices
- trips of roasted red bell pepper, homemade or bottled, and/or black olives, for decorating (optional)
- Creamy Avocado Sauce
How to Make It
- Put the potatoes in a pot large enough to hold them comfortably and pour in enough cold water to cover them well. Salt the water to taste. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat so the water is simmering, and cook the potatoes until tender when poked with a paring knife, about 35 minutes; drain.
- Meanwhile, make the tuna filling: Stir the tuna, mayonnaise, celery, cilantro, jalapeño, and lime zest and juice together in a mixing bowl, breaking up the tuna, until all the ingredients are evenly distributed and the filling is fairly smooth.
- As soon as they are cool enough to handle, but still quite warm, peel the potatoes and pass them through a ricer or food mill fitted with the fine disk. (Or mash them as fine as you can, then whisk until nearly smooth. Be advised—lumpy potatoes may make it difficult to roll up the jelly roll.) Stir in the ají amarillo paste and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Tear off a 30-inch length of 18-inch-wide heavy-duty aluminum foil. Spray it generously with cooking spray and lay the foil on the work surface with one of the long ends closest to you. Turn the potato mixture out onto the center of the foil and use a rolling pin to roll out the mixture to a rectangle about 18 × 12 inches and about ¼ inch thick, with a long side toward you. Don’t worry if the rectangle isn’t perfect. Spread the tuna salad evenly over the potatoes, leaving a 1-inch border along the short ends of the rectangle and a 2-inch border along the long sides. Top the tuna salad with the avocado slices, laying them parallel to one of the long sides and spacing them evenly over the tuna.
- Set a platter large enough to hold the finished roll nearby. Grab hold of the edge of the foil closest to you and lift it gently so the tuna-topped potatoes start to roll up; nudge the potatoes gently to get the roll going if need be. Almost certainly, the roll will crack in a few places as it rolls. Don’t worry at all about the “interior” cracks they won’t show. Surface cracks that show can be easily fixed later. Lift the roll, still on the foil, onto the platter and gently give it one last roll to transfer it onto the platter. Don’t worry about ragged edges—just trim them off or ignore them. To patch rough spots or tears, simply smooth the potatoes over them with a rubber spatula dipped in warm water. Cover with plastic wrap and chill on the platter for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
- Before serving, decorate the top of the roll with strips of red pepper and/or black olives if you like. Serve chilled, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices, with the avocado sauce.
