Veal with Tuna Cream Sauce
Veal with Tuna Cream Sauce
The Italian classic vitello tonnato: chilled poached veal sliced thin and blanketed in a silky tuna, anchovy and caper sauce.
Prep: 30 minutes (plus chilling overnight) · Cook: about 1 hour
What Is Veal with Tuna Cream Sauce?
The celebrated Piedmontese vitello tonnato: veal poached with aromatics, chilled, sliced paper-thin and covered with a velvety emulsified sauce of tuna, anchovies, capers, egg yolks and olive oil.
Why Make Veal with Tuna Cream Sauce?
- One of Italy's great summer dishes
- Made entirely ahead — it must chill overnight
- The tuna sauce is an astonishing pairing with veal
- Elegant cold buffet centrepiece
- Canned tuna and anchovies do the gourmet work
Unico Products Used in This Recipe
Ingredients
- 750 g leg of veal (boned and rolled (1 2/3 lb))
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 black peppercorns
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 carrots (sliced)
- 1 onion (sliced)
- 2 stalks celery (sliced)
- 3 cups stock or water
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 85 g solid light tuna (well drained (3 oz))
- 28 g anchovy fillets (drained, 4 for the sauce + rest to garnish (1 oz))
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp capers (drained, plus more to garnish)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- lemon wedges and fresh herbs (to garnish)
Instructions
- Put the veal in a saucepan with the bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, salt and vegetables; add the stock or water and wine to barely cover.
- Bring to a boil, skim, then cover and simmer gently about 1 hour, until tender; cool the veal in its liquid, then drain and chill (chilled veal carves more easily).
- Make the sauce: mash the tuna thoroughly with 4 anchovy fillets, 1 tablespoon of the oil and the capers; add the egg yolks and press through a strainer or puree until smooth.
- Stir in the lemon juice, then gradually whisk in the remaining oil a few drops at a time until the sauce is smooth, with the consistency of thick cream; season.
- Slice the veal thinly, arrange in overlapping slices on a platter, and spoon the sauce over to cover; cover and chill overnight.
- Before serving, decorate with the remaining anchovies and capers, and garnish with lemon wedges and fresh herbs.
Cooking Tips
- Cool the veal in its own poaching liquid for moistness
- Chill the meat before carving for the thinnest slices
- Whisk the oil in drop by drop — it's an emulsion like mayonnaise
- Let it rest overnight under the sauce; that's the magic
- Garnish just before serving so the capers stay perky
Frequently Asked Questions About Veal with Tuna Cream Sauce
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1. What is vitello tonnato?
A Piedmontese classic of chilled sliced veal under a creamy tuna-caper sauce, served cold.
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2. The sauce uses raw egg yolks — is that safe?
It's a traditional raw-yolk emulsion like mayonnaise; use very fresh or pasteurized eggs, keep it chilled, and skip it for at-risk guests.
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3. Can I shortcut the sauce?
Many cooks blend the tuna, anchovies and capers into good store-bought mayonnaise instead.
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4. Why chill it overnight?
The sauce and veal marry as they rest — the dish genuinely improves.
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5. How long does it keep?
Up to 2 days refrigerated, covered.
Veal with Tuna Cream Sauce Made Simple
Veal with Tuna Cream Sauce — vitello tonnato — is Italy's coolest dinner-party flex, made a day ahead. Unico tuna, anchovies and capers compose its famous sauce.