Vitelo Tonnato / Veal with Tuna Mayonnaise

French Market Recipe #42

Vitelo Tonnato
Veal with tuna mayonnaise

Ingredients   

• 500gr joint of veal (or pork if veal not available)
• 100g tuna in olive oil
• 60gr capers preserved in salt
• 4 white anchovy fillets
• 4 eggs
• 500ml white wine
• 1 lemon
• 150ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 2 sticks of celery
• 4 cloves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoonful black peppercorns

Directions:

1. Boil the eggs until hard – about 10 minutes, then cool
2. Grate the zest off the lemon, and keep aside for garnish
3. Cut lemon in half and squeeze out the juice
4. Wash the salt off the capers, pat dry, keep some aside for décor.
5. Drain the oil completely from the tuna.
6. In a large bowl, place the drained tuna, capers, anchovy fillets and hard boiled yolks, blend until smooth.
7. Add the lemon juice and blend in until smooth
8. Add ground black pepper to taste
9. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and blend in until a thick paste is formed.
10. Chill in the fridge to thicken
11. Wash and dry the meat, truss the joint with string to keep its shape while cooking
12. Peel carrots and cut in large chunks
13. Chop celery in chunks
14. Peel garlic and cut cloves in half
15. Cut onions in half
16. Place meat, carrots, celery, garlic, onion, cloves, peppercorns and bay leaves in a large saucepan
17. Pour over the wine and leave to marinate for 30 minutes
18. After 30 minutes add 1.5L water and bring to boil
19. Cover and simmer for about one and a half to two hours until joint is tender, remove meat from broth (keep broth to make a soup)
20. Once the meat has cooled thoroughly, remove string and slice very thinly
21. Layer the slices across a large serving platter.
22. Spread the sauce across the meat, decorate with capers and lemon zest and serve chilled.

Serve with a glass of Veyzier Boheme Viognier available at the French Market shop in Cape Town.

Bon Appetit!