Vitello Tonnato

Ingredients – Serves 6

• 1.3 kg thick piece of boneless veal topside
• 1 small onion
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 celery sticks, halved
• 1 small carrot, peeled
• 6 black peppercorns
• 140ml dry white wine

For the Sauce

• 2 large eggs
• 275ml olive oil
• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 90g tuna in a tin, drained
• 2 tinned anchovy fillets, drained
• 1½ tablespoons salted capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and ground pepper to taste

To Garnish

• A few extra capers
• 2 tinned anchovy fillets, drained and very thinly sliced

Method

Begin by putting the veal in a medium roasting tin.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Stud the onion with the cloves and add this to the tin, along with the bay leaves, celery, carrot, peppercorns and wine. Then, roast the veal in the preheated oven for 90 minutes. For the sauce, you need to start by making mayonnaise. So, break the whole eggs straight into the goblet of a blender or food processor, and add the garlic clove and 1 teaspoon salt.

Then measure the oil into a jug and switch the machine on. To blend everything thoroughly, pour the oil in a thin, very steady trickle with the motor running. You must be very careful here – too much oil in too soon means the sauce will curdle.

When all the oil is in, add the white wine vinegar and blend. Then add the tuna, anchovy fillets and capers, and whiz again till smooth. Now do a bit of tasting and season with lemon juice and pepper. The sauce can be made well ahead and kept in the fridge till needed. When the veal is ready, take it out of the oven and leave everything to get cold.

After that, take the veal out of the tin – you can discard the vegetables, bay leaves, peppercorns and any remaining wine now. Slice the meat very thinly and arrange it in a large, shallow serving dish. Spoon the sauce over the meat. Now arrange the anchovy slices on top to decorate it as you like. Scatter over a few extra capers and garnish with the lemon slices.

Wine to pair this recipe with: Barbera d’Alba DOC