Open Faced Tuna Melt Boat

This open-faced tuna melt boat recipe layers a classic lemony tuna salad onto toasted French bread, topped with melted Cheddar cheese and a bright, tangy chopped salad.

Ingredients

• 2 (10-ounce) cans tuna, drained
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pickles
• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise, plus more to taste
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 loaf French bread, halved lengthwise
• 8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 3 cups shredded Romaine lettuce
• 1 Roma tomato, very thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon oregano

Directions

1. Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven’s broiler.
2. Combine tuna, red onion, pickles, celery, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and lemon pepper in a bowl.  Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper.  
3. Scoop a little of the inside of each bread half out and reserve for another use.  Top each bread half evenly with tuna mixture.  Top evenly with shredded Cheddar cheese. 
4. Broil until cheese is thoroughly melted, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Meanwhile toss Romaine lettuce, tomato, pepperoncini, olive oil, red wine vinegar, crushed red pepper, and oregano together in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Top tuna melt with salad mixture and cut each loaf into 6 to 7 pieces. Serve immediately.