Hot tuna salad in bread bowls

Ingredients:

• 1 whole loaf of white bread, at least 30 cm long.
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
• 1 and 1/3 cups potato chips
• 12 slices of American cheese
• 0.5 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 3 stalks celery, diced into small cubes (about 1 heaping cup)
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• Hot sauce, as needed
• 4 x 140g cans of tuna in its own juice, drained thoroughly
• 1 pickled cucumber, dried and cut into 16 slices
• 4 thin slices of ox heart tomato
• 1 cup sprouts, optional

Preparation:

1. Position the oven rack on the middle shelf and preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. Trim 0.5 cm of crust from one end of the bread, and enough crust from the other end to make a 12-inch loaf. Set aside the crusts for another use. Cut the loaf crosswise into 4 equal pieces. Using a fork, prick one cut end and carefully poke a square hole in each piece of bread to create "boxes," leaving a 1 cm thick inner layer of bread along the crusts (see Note). Set aside the crumb for another use.
3. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and a large pinch of salt and melt in the microwave for 1 minute. Brush the inside and outside of the bread with the melted butter. Top each slice of bread with 1/3 cup potato chips and 1 slice of American cheese. Place the bread bowls, open-side up, on a baking sheet and bake until the cheese is melted and the inside of the bread is lightly browned and crisp, about 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, mustard, celery, shallot, a splash of hot sauce, and a generous pinch of salt. Stir in the tuna. Adjust the salt and drizzle with hot sauce if needed.
5. Fill each bread bowl in the following order: 1/2 cup tuna salad, 4 pickle slices, another 1/2 cup tuna salad, 1 tomato slice, and 2 slices American cheese.
6. Return the bread bowls to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with sprouts, if using, cut in half or leave whole, and serve immediately.
   
   Note
   
   Don't worry if you accidentally poke a piece of bread all the way through while cutting out bread bowls. Simply patch the hole with an extra piece of bread.