In an orthodox recipe for Vitello Tonnato, a chunk of veal is simmered with vegetables and spices, then rests in its own stock to cool. Maria’s version is a triple threat– it yields a pasta dish as the Primo, a roast as the Secondo, and leftovers to fill panini over the next days. It is a similar idea to the Napoletan Ragù, in which the tomato sauce flavoured with meat is served with pasta, followed by the meat themselves as a main.
The first course (my personal favourite, as I am partial to a white ragù,) is silky tagliatelle tossed in the pan juices. This is followed by the meat itself, served here with mashed potato (with butter, a dash of milk, and grated nutmeg). While veal is tender, easy to digest and cooks rapidly, the flip side is that it is lean and rather dry– hence it is larded with pancetta. Unsmoked bacon may be substituted.
Leftovers are consumed over the next few days in the form of Vitello Tonnato. I’ve had restaurant versions with the sauce freshly poured over the top or even served on the side, which may look more appealing, but in truth all the meat needs to marinate in the sauce, preferably for a day. In Italy, the supermarkets sell jarred salsa tonnato. If you can find or make a high quality mayonnaise, you could simply blend that with tuna and lemon juice.
Quality tuna fillets do make a difference in the sauce. This surf n’ turf recipe from Piedmont is the closest Maria comes to eating seafood– whilst the great lakes and rivers make up for Lombardy’s lack of coastline, Maria rules out cooking fresh fish as it would stink up the entire house.
Maria’s version is a triple threat– it yields a pasta dish as the Primo, a roast as the Secondo, and leftovers to fill panini over the next days.
When I first visited Maria in Valtellina, my elder son was turning 100 days old. In Japan, we hold a ceremony called Okuizome, which refers to starting solids. Historically, of course, pregnancy, birth and the newborn phases were even more precarious than now, so this was a day to practise gratitude and offer prayers for a plentiful life ahead. Today, the wishes are about health and good fortune more generally. A special menu is pretend-fed to the baby, including red snapper (an auspicious fish that is served whole for occasions) and rice cooked with red beans, as the colour red symbolises luck.
I explained this tradition, and we celebrated with golden risotto and a jar of tuna– perfect, as the most important aspect of this ritual is to share it with elder relatives.
Vitello Tonnato recipe
Serves 4
For the meat:
800 g girello cut of veal (or pork loin/ turkey breast)
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 carrot, chopped finely
100 g pancetta, chopped finely
100 g unsalted butter, clarified butter or lard
150 ml dry white wine
2 bay leaves
Bring the meat to room temperature. Tie neatly with kitchen string.
In a frying pan, heat 20 g of the butter over medium heat. Sautée the pancetta. Once browned, add the vegetables. Sautée until soft.
In a large heavy pot, heat the remaining butter over medium heat. Turn up the flame to medium-high and sear the meat on both sides.
Deglaze with the wine. As soon as the alcohol has evaporated, add the soffritto from the other pan.
Add 100 ml of warm water (or stock) and the herbs. Turn down the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes with the lid on. Turn the meat, and cook for another 25 minutes.
Check towards the end of the cooking time to ensure the bottom is not drying out. Add a bit of water if needed.
Rest the meat for 10 minutes before snipping off the strings and slicing.
For the pasta dish:
500 g Tagliatelle (preferably egg pasta, either fresh or dry)
The pan juices from the veal
Grana Padano (or Parmigiano) cheese to grate on top
Freshly ground black pepper
Use plenty of salted water brought to a rolling boil in a large pot to cook the pasta– at least 4 litres of water for every 500g pasta, with 10g salt per litre. Egg pasta cooks quicker than dried pasta, about 7 minutes.
Drain in a colander (reserving some cooking water to adjust the sauce’s thickness if needed), or lift the pasta out with tongs. Toss them through the pan juices, adding a bit of the pasta water if necessary to give a creamy consistency. Serve immediately in shallow pasta bowls or on plates. Top with freshly grated Grana Padano and black pepper.
For the tonnato sauce:
100g tinned tuna in olive oil, drained
50g capers, soaked, drained and dried
2 anchovy fillets
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
Juice of ½ lemon, strained
Freshly ground black pepper
150ml neutral oil (we use avocado or macadamia)
Optional mayonnaise:
2 egg yolks
Juice of ½ lemon, strained
Freshly ground black pepper
150ml neutral oil (we use avocado or macadamia)
Cut the meat into uniform slices, as thinly as possible.
Heat frying oil in a small pan and fry the capers in oil for a minute or so until they become crisp and bloom. Drain.
In a food processor, blend the egg yolks, tuna, lemon juice and anchovies until smooth. On the lowest speed, add the oil as a steady trickle. Taste and correct for lemon and salt. Season with pepper.
If a creamy sauce is desired, blend the mayonnaise ingredients together and fold through.
Smear the bottom of a serving platter with some of the tonnato sauce. Over it, spread a single layer of veal slices meeting edge to edge, without overlapping. Cover with sauce, then make another layer, and so on. Repeat until all the meat has been used, and cover the topmost layer with sauce.
Stud with the fried capers.
Cover and refrigerate for at least several hours. It will keep well for several days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
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