Turkey in tuna sauce

Tacchino tonnato

Ingredients 4-8 persons

1 piece of turkey breast weighing at least 750 grams

3 smaller carrots cut into pieces

1 yellow onion quartered (with peel)

2 stalks of celery in pieces

Splash of olive oil

10-15 peppercorns

Salt

SAUS

3 eggs: 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg

2-3 teaspoons of mustard

3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (preferably fresh)

Olive oil

Sunflower oil

4 gherkins

1.5 tbsp capers + for garnish

250 grams of tuna (drained weight)

4-6 anchovy fillets in oil

Pepper from the mill

Fresh basil leaves

🕐 40🔪🍳 240✋🏽 👩🏼🍳👩🏼🍳

1. Fill a large saucepan of 5-6 litres halfway with water. Add to the cold water the carrot, celery stalks, onion, peppercorns, dash of olive oil and salt, cut into pieces. Bring the water to the boil.

2. When the water boils: add the turkey breast. Simmer (depending on size) for about 30-40 minutes. Take turkey breast out, cover and let cool. In summer: place directly in the refrigerator. Allow turkey breast to cool thoroughly for at least four hours. In between, you can already cut it into thin slices, because it will cool faster. Always cover with plastic wrap. ------------

You can also cook the turkey breast sous vide. Then it becomes even more delicious. Season the meat, rub it well with oil and put it in a plastic bag which you then place in the vacuum bag. If you don't, the vacumizer will pull out all the moisture (the oil) and the bag will not seal properly. Cook the meat for 2 hours in 64-degree water. Then let it rest in the refrigerator for half an hour before removing the bag. -------------

3. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Put the egg yolks and the whole egg in a blender or mixing bowl. Add two to three teaspoons of mustard and mix well. Then add the lemon juice. Mix well again.

4. While the hand blender or blender is running, add the olive oil and sunflower oil alternately in thin streams. Olive oil gives the sauce a slightly spicier flavour. So adjust the proportions of the two oils according to taste. Add oil until the sauce thickens. When it is really thick and lumpy, switch off the appliance.

5. Then add the capers, pickles, anchovies and tuna. Again turn on the blender or hand blender and work everything together well. Add salt and pepper to taste and some fresh basil leaves. If the sauce is still not fresh enough: add some lemon juice. If the taste is good, the sauce can be stored covered in the refrigerator.

6. After 3-4 hours, take the turkey breast out of the fridge and pour the sauce over the thin slices that you have laid out on a plate in rows. Cover and leave to soak in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Serve portions on separate plates or on a large platter. Garnish with capers and some basil leaves.

👉🏽 If you don't have a blender or hand blender, you can always buy good mayonnaise and stir in the tuna, pickle, capers, some extra mustard and lemon juice. It's not as tasty, but a great alternative.

👉🏽 This recipe is great to serve as a main course, but also as an appetizer. If you have a buffet then this is also an ideal dish.

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Nice to know

Traditional recipes are increasingly being given more light-hearted siblings in Italian cuisine. More chicken, turkey or other poultry is used. Especially in the summer months, these ingredients are more often on the menu. A variation on the classic 'vitello tonnato' is this 'tacchino tonnato'. Instead of veal, a turkey breast is used.

My dear friend Cristina (✝︎ 2012) loved this dish. As a true Italian, she always claimed that nobody could make tonnato better than an Italian. We had a battle. This recipe was the winner.