Vitello Tonnato

The Vitello Tonnato is included within the Italian antipasti, what in English we would call appetizers.

These are various recipes and specialties that are served before meals and whose mission is to prepare the diner to eat the main dishes. An antipasto (singular of antipasti) can be as simple as a plate of olives or as elaborate as the Vitello Tonnato that we are now dealing with. All of them, however, are always served cold whatever their composition and regardless of whether they need to be cooked or not.

The Vitello Tonnato could be translated as "veal with tuna sauce". Its origin is Piedmont and it is described for the first time at the end of the 19th century in the book "La sciencia in cucina" by Pellegrino Artusi, although it is supposed to be older.

Pellegrino Artusi is considered the father of modern Italian cuisine, just as Auguste Escoffier is of French cuisine.

The preparation is divided into two parts: the cooking of the meat and the preparation of the sauce.

INGREDIENTS (4 people)

For the meat: 

• A piece of meat (tenderloin or veal loin) between 600 and 800 grams (1.3 ~ 1.8 lbs) *
• 1 celery
• 1 large purple onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves
• Meat broth
• White wine
• extra virgin olive oil
• Salt pepper

For the sauce:

• Half a dozen anchovy fillets in olive oil
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of tuna in olive oil
• 3 eggs
• extra virgin olive oil
• meat cooking juices
• 1 dozen capers (plus another dozen for garnish)
• Optional: balsamic vinegar of Modena

* although it is not orthodox, sometimes pork tenderloin can be used to reduce costs.

First we are going to cook the meat. Place the meat in a saucepan,  in the center of it,  and surround it with the carrot cut into two halves, the celery stick cut or two or three pieces, the chopped onion, the two cloves of garlic, the bay leaves, the cloves and the sprig of rosemary. Season to taste. Then we pour half a liter (2 cups and a half)  of white wine and just cover with meat or even vegetable broth. Place over medium heat without covering the pan for an hour and a half or two hours (until the meat is done). Let it cool at room temperature.

Next we will prepare the tuna sauce. In a large bowl, shred the tuna and add the three eggs that we have previously cooked to make them hard (12 minutes) cut into small cubes.

Add the anchovies and a dozen capers as well as a splash of olive oil and a ladle of the broth resulting from cooking the meat. We go through the arm mixer until there is a sauce whose consistency should be like mayonnaise only a little more liquid. If it is thick, just add more cooking juice.

Now we will cut the cold meat into thin sections, not as thick as would be needed for carpaccio but much less than that of conventional portions. We will need a very sharp knife or an electric one.

The fillets obtained are placed on a tray. You can put a little balsamic oil of Modena on the base of the tray but it is not essential. The tuna sauce is spread over the surface of all the meat slices and a few capers are sprinkled to decorate. Now the tray is introduced, properly covered so that it does not catch odours, in the fridge for at least a couple of hours. In this way the sauce will impregnate the meat properly.

It is served cold and I assure you that it is a recipe that you will love.