A cartoon's inspiration: Tuna Patties

Welcome 2012! In the spirit of seeing what the new year has to offer us, I've switched on the news, which is something I rarely do. Well, now I know why: hello crisis, hello economical problems, hello apocalypse!
No rainbow, no unicorns in sight... *sigh*. So I switched to a different channel, for something more uplifting, and there it was: Spongebob squarepants!

Some might say I'm a little too old for spongebob squarepants, but I think it's important to keep my inner child alive, at least until I find out where my adult-self is!
Plus I believe inspiration can come in many forms and from many places, and there it was, in the middle of a cartoon: the krabby patty!

I'm still working on my "perfect pantry", but one essential element in it, is the tuna can. I always have different brands, different sizes, even from different countries. So when the patty idea came to mind, I know I would use one of those.
Although I normally have my tuna cold, in a salad for instance, I really enjoyed this recipe. It gives a winter twist, to an ingredient I mostly use in the summer.

The combination of whole grain mustard and tuna is always a winner in my book, and even warm it still works. And for this, apparently, very tough year ahead of us, this is great comfort food (you can switch the green salad for roasted potatoes for a better effect) but it's also very budget effective, and it looks like we are going to need this during the year.

Tuna Patties (based on a recipe from simplerecipes.com)

For 2 patties

1 Can of Tuna (about 120gr)
1 Tablespoon of Whole Grain Mustard
4 Tablespoons of Bread Crumbs
1/4 of a Lemon Zest
1 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon of Fresh Chive, chopped
1 Tablespoon of Parsley
3-4 Drops of Piri-Piri (or Tabasco)
1 Egg
Salt, Pepper
Olive Oil

Drain the tuna and crumble it into a bowl with a fork. Add all ingredients, except the olive oil and combine well together. Use your hands in the end to check the consistency, if it's too moist, add some more bread crumbs, if it's too dry add a bit of olive oil.

Form both your patties with your hands, place them a baking sheet and leave them in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Heat up in a non-sticky frying pan some olive oil, on a medium flame, and place your patties in it. Leave them to cook 4 to 5 minutes on each (depending on the size) until they have a nice golden color.

Serve them with a salad and some lemon wedges to sprinkle over.