Traditional veal with tuna sauce
Recipe by Giovanni Grasso
SERVES 6
Preparation 20 minutes
Cooking 60 minutes
1 topside of veal
2 carrots, chopped
4 medium onions, chopped
2 celery hearts, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper
glass white wine
250ml chicken stock
handful rosemary, chopped
handful sage, chopped
For the tuna sauce
(salsa tonnata)
leftover cooking juices
tuna in oil
white bread (soaked in the cooking juices left from the veal pan)
capers
anchovies
cold stock
mayonnaise
salt and pepper
N.B. See end of recipe for bruschetta and topping
Wash the veal and remove the fat, dry it off with kitchen roll, then season generously. Heat a frying pan with high sides, add the olive oil and the carrots, onions, celery hearts and herbs. Brown for 3 minutes. Add the veal and cook for 5 minutes on both sides. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, and allow the meat and vegetables to absorb it. Half cover the contents of the pan with the boiling stock and place in the oven at 220°C/Gas Mark 7. Turn the veal over every 10 minutes until it reaches 47/50°C in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Slice the veal finely. Keep the cooking juices and the vegetables for the sauce.
Blend the tuna, the leftover cooking juices and vegetables, bread, anchovies and capers. Adjust the quantities of each to your taste. Pass the sauce through a sieve to remove the chunky bits. Place the mixture in a bowl and regulate the consistency with the cold stock. Check the seasoning and add a dash of mayonnaise.
To put the dish together, arrange some salad leaves in the middle of the plate, drizzling some olive oil and lemon juice over the top. Carefully arrange the finely sliced veal on the plate and pour the tuna sauce over. Rest a bruschetta in the middle topped with tomatoes, shallots, chopped olives, parsley,salt and pepper, and a little olive oil. Decorate with fried capers, and sprinkle with some chopped mixed herbs and black pepper.
