VITELLO TONNATO

Meat entree

Veal tenderloin in tuna sauce

3 lbs veal tenderloin, in a single piece
2 cans tuna in olive oil, drained
2 tbsp capers, packed in salt and rinsed
3 anchovy fillets, packed in olive oil
2 hard boiled eggs
warm broth, at least 1 qt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil


Tie meat with butcher's string in order to retain its shape.

In a saucepan with lid, over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil and brown all sides of your meat. Add broth, cover with lid, lower heat to minimum and simmer for about 1 hour; a longer cooking at low temperature will have a tender meat as result. Season with pepper (if desired) and salt, carefully because of the other ingredients.

Let meat cool down into the pan.

Peel eggs and cut them lengthwise, remove yolks and save the halved albumen.

Prepare the tuna sauce.

In a food processor combine tuna, capers, anchovies and yolks. Blend, adding meat cooking juices little by little, until you obtain a smooth cream. You shouldn't need salt in this sauce, due to tuna, capers and anchovies.

Thinly slice meat, not thicker than 1/4", and arrange slices on a serving platter, slightly overlapping them.

Cover with tuna sauce, reserving a little to be usedto fill the halved albumen served as appetiser.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, in order to allow meat to absorb the tuna sauce flavor.

Serve with a fresh green salad.


I can't actually determine how many servings are in this recipe, I suggest to slice the meat, use the amount you need and freeze the remaining in airtight plastic container, along with some of its cooking juices, so you'll have a dinner ready when you haven't time to cook.


- You can use beef or pork tenderloin, as long as they're lean and tender

- You can use 2 tsp of anchovy paste instead of anchovy fillets

_ You can use about 1/2 cup mayo (or a mix of mayo and plain yogurt), instead of the hard boiled eggs with the cooking juices; the original version is obviously lighter.