Murcian salad
Ensalada murciana — sometimes also called “mojete”, from the Spanish mojar, to dip — is the salad that breaks the rule that tomatoes must be fresh: it is made from whole canned peeled tomatoes, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, onion and black olives, generously dressed with olive oil. Canned tomatoes are sweeter and more intense than winter fresh ones, and their juice mixes with the oil into a sauce you mop up with bread. It is a year-round salad from store-cupboard staples, ready in half an hour.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Eggs (tomatoes chilling) 15 min
- Preparation 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBoil the eggs
Hard-boil the eggs — 9–10 minutes from boiling — and move them to cold water.
Ingredients: 800 g whole peeled canned tomatoes · 150 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · ½ pcs white or red onion · 60 g black olives · 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp dried oregano (optional)
Chill the tomatoes
Ideally chill the tin in the fridge a few hours ahead. If you have not, as soon as the eggs are on, tip the tomatoes and their juice into a bowl and refrigerate for about 20 minutes — the salad should be cool.
Ingredients: 800 g whole peeled canned tomatoes · 150 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · ½ pcs white or red onion · 60 g black olives · 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp dried oregano (optional)
Tear the tomatoes
Drain the tomatoes, keeping 3 tablespoons of juice. Tear them by hand into large pieces and spread over a flat platter.
Ingredients: 800 g whole peeled canned tomatoes · 150 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · ½ pcs white or red onion · 60 g black olives · 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp dried oregano (optional)
Torn by hand into big pieces — not sliced.Prepare the onion
Slice the onion thinly. If harsh, soak it in cold water for 10 minutes and drain.
Ingredients: 800 g whole peeled canned tomatoes · 150 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · ½ pcs white or red onion · 60 g black olives · 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp dried oregano (optional)
Peel the eggs
Peel the eggs and quarter them.
Ingredients: 800 g whole peeled canned tomatoes · 150 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · ½ pcs white or red onion · 60 g black olives · 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp dried oregano (optional)
Quartered eggs go on top.Assemble
Scatter the onion, chunks of tuna, egg quarters and olives over the tomatoes.
Ingredients: 800 g whole peeled canned tomatoes · 150 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · ½ pcs white or red onion · 60 g black olives · 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp dried oregano (optional)
Everything layered on one platter.Dress
Mix the olive oil with the reserved tomato juice and the salt and pour over the salad. Sprinkle with oregano.
Ingredients: 800 g whole peeled canned tomatoes · 150 g tuna in olive oil, drained · 3 pcs eggs · ½ pcs white or red onion · 60 g black olives · 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil · ½ tsp salt · ½ tsp dried oregano (optional)
Serve
Serve at once with bread — the tomato juice and oil are mopped up from the platter with pieces of bread.
Ingredients: 4 pcs bread, slices (optional)
Before you start
Which tomatoes
Choose whole canned tomatoes (pelati), not chopped or passata — the pieces must be meaty. Choose tins without added flavourings such as basil or garlic.
Without tuna
For a vegetarian version, leave out the tuna and add 100 g of feta or a few capers. A serving is then about 310 kcal with feta, or about 245 kcal with capers only.
Storage
With tuna and eggs it keeps 1 day in the fridge, covered. Add the eggs just before serving if you can.
