Vitello Tonnato is one of my favourite summer dishes, it is easy to prepare and as you can make it in advance it is one of the best dishes to serve for guest when you are not sure of the ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
Meat:
600g Veal girello / Veal nut (tied with string)
1 carrot
1 onion
1 celery stick
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
Olive oil
1 pinch of salt
Water
Sauce:
200g of tuna tinned in olive oil, drained
3 anchovy fillets
2 eggs, hard boiled, just need to use the yolks
2 tbsp capers, drained
1 lemon, juice only
Pepper and saltto taste
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Bring the water to boil in a large saucepan add salt, meat, carrot, onion, celery, the vinegar and olive oil. Cover and simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Remove the saucepan from the heat, leave the meat in the liquid and allow to cool completely. Don’t throw the liquid away.
While the meat is cooling, make the tuna sauce. Place the tuna, capers, anchovy fillets and egg yolks in a food processor and blitz for about 30 seconds. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and whiz for another 10 seconds. Season with black pepper. If the sauce is too dense you can add a bit of the cold liquid from the saucepan. The finished sauce will have a similar consistency to fresh mayonnaise
Remove the string from the meat slice the veal thinly and place the slices on a large serving dish. Pour the sauce over the top of the meat garnish with whole capers or cornichons. Leave covered for a couple of hours before serving.
Buon Appetito!
Castello di Montegiove 