Vitello Tonnato (Piedmontese Veal with Tuna Sauce)

La storia di questo piatto

Piedmont keeps this dish cold and quietly generous: tender veal, sliced thin, under a pale, silken sauce of tuna, anchovy and capers. It is the kind of recipe that lives in family kitchens and on the festive tables of the north, where a cool plate can still feel like an embrace.

Ingredienti

• 800 g Veal topside (girello)
• 2 l Water
• 1 pc Carrot
• 1 stalk Celery
• 1 pc Onion
• 2 pc Bay leaves
• 200 ml Dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon Coarse salt
• 6 pc Peppercorns
• 3 pc Egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon Fine salt
• 200 ml Vegetable oil
• 160 g Quality oil-packed tuna
• 4 pc Anchovy fillets
• 3 tablespoon Salt-cured capers
• 1 lemon Lemon (juice)
• 4 tablespoon Veal cooking broth
• 1 tablespoon Salt-cured capers for garnish
• 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil

Preparazione

1. Tie the veal topside with kitchen string, turning it well all around so it holds its shape and cooks evenly without opening up. In a large pot, pour about 2 litres of water and add carrot, celery, onion, bay leaves, white wine, coarse salt and peppercorns. Bring to a vigorous boil: when you smell the vegetables and bay rising, the broth is ready to receive the meat.
2. Immerse the veal in the boiling water and immediately lower the heat to medium-low: it should simmer gently, with a few lazy bubbles breaking the surface, never boil hard or the meat will turn tough as shoe leather. Let it cook slowly for about 70 minutes, until the centre is no longer pink and a skewer slides in without resistance.
3. Turn off the heat and let the veal cool completely in its own broth, at room temperature: this is where it absorbs flavour and stays moist, so do not skip this rest for any reason. When the broth is fully cold, take out 4 tablespoons (about a small ladle) and set aside for the sauce, leaving the veal in the broth.
4. Prepare the mayonnaise: whisk the 3 egg yolks with 1 teaspoon of fine salt and the juice of half a lemon (the other half is for adjusting the sauce at the end), then drizzle in the vegetable oil in a very thin stream, like a hair, never stopping the whisking. You will see the sauce thicken and become glossy; it should coat the spoon without sliding off. If it breaks, don't worry: start again with a new yolk and gradually incorporate the broken sauce, it can always be rescued.
5. Rinse the salt-cured capers under running water, soak them 10 minutes in cold water and squeeze them well (set aside 1 tablespoon already desalted for the garnish). Blend the well-drained tuna with the anchovy fillets and the remaining desalted capers, adding the 4 tablespoons of cold veal broth set aside: it should become a smooth, velvety cream with no grit felt between the teeth. Fold it into the mayonnaise gently, mixing from the bottom upwards so as not to break it, and always taste: if it feels flat, the juice of the other half lemon will brighten it right away; it should tingle lightly on the tongue.
6. Remove the veal from the completely cold broth, discard the string, and wrap it tightly in cling film to compact and press it. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight if you have the patience: when cold and firm it slices as thin as a veil, while warm it crumbles and all your work is lost. Store the sauce covered in the fridge.
7. With a very sharp knife and a steady hand, slice the cold veal into paper-thin slices, almost translucent when held up to the light. Arrange them slightly overlapping on a cold serving platter, like spreading a soft cloth.
8. Cover with the tuna sauce in a generous layer but without drowning the meat, letting a hint of pink show at the edges. Garnish with 1 tablespoon of desalted capers and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (1 tablespoon), then bring to the table well chilled, because the contrast between cool and creamy is the whole secret of this dish.