by pierino
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my 100 recipes »
Photo by Sarah Shatz
pierino's Notes:
Expand4 eggs (in total) Ask a question about this ingredient
1 cup extra virgin olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient
1 120gm (or equivalent) can of top quality oil packed tuna Ask a question about this ingredient
3 really good oil packed anchovies (lest I be forced to remind you, pizza anchovies are diabolical and don’t belong in your kitchen unless you worship the devil) Ask a question about this ingredient
White wine vinegar Ask a question about this ingredient
1/2 cup torn up bread, without crusts Ask a question about this ingredient
Fresh garden sage Ask a question about this ingredient
2 shallots Ask a question about this ingredient
2 pounds lean ground veal (please do grind it yourself, please) Ask a question about this ingredient
Sea salt and ground pepper (black, white or green) Ask a question about this ingredient
2 tablespoons salt packed capers Ask a question about this ingredient
Begin by making the tonnato sauce, it will make things easier if you do this first. In the bowl of a small food processor add two eggs---reserving two eggs for the polpette, and begin to process as if you were making mayonnaise (actually you are) by gradually drizzling in up to half or more of the olive oil with the motor running. When it’s mayonnaise stop and add the tuna and the anchovies and just a small splash of vinegar. Pulse it until smooth and creamy.
Ask a question about this stepStrain the sauce through a coarse sieve such as a tamis. Set aside in a large bowl.
Ask a question about this stepFor the meat balls; tear up the bread and sprinkle with cold water and white vinegar just to soften it up.
Ask a question about this stepChop the sage rather finely. There are tools for that; either a very sharp knife or even better a mezzaluna.
Ask a question about this stepMince the shallots
Ask a question about this stepIn a large bowl, one in which you can fit both of your hands, combine the meat, the eggs, shallots and the sage. Squeeze as much liquid as you can from the bread and work that into the meat mixture with your scrubbed hands. Sea salt here would be good. Ground pepper too.
Ask a question about this stepGet a pot of water boiling, add salt and reduce to a simmer. Meanwhile (the dreaded meanwhile), form veal mixture into small, very small meatballs. Like the size of a ping pong ball.
Ask a question about this stepAdd just a splash of vinegar to the simmering water. Working just one or two at a time at the beginning add your meatballs to the poaching liquid. Keep the heat at a steady simmer. After about 15 minutes spoon one out and check for doneness. They must be cooked all of the way through. When they are done scoop out onto a sheet pan to rest for a minute or so.
Ask a question about this stepNow the capers. You’ve purchased really top notch salt packed capers, right? Okay, well allow those to soak in cold water. When you get ready to plate things up, carefully drain off the water using your hands or a strainer. The capers are there to finish the plate.
Ask a question about this stepNow, onto each appetizer plate ladle a little sauce, scatter a few capers and add your chilled meatballs. E voila!
Ask a question about this stepAh! Well, you see, I sneak anchovies (good anchovies) into everything. Pierino loves to surprise people with singular flavors that they can't match up with anything. It's very easy to hide anchovies so that the anchovy "haters" don't even know that they are there. An Italian salsa verde would be a good example, and that's a parsley and olive oil based sauce. But the mouth bomb would be the anchovies disguised in there. Seriously, the people who say that they hate anchovies have only tasted the disgusting tinned stuff on pizzas. I mean, I hated them until I tasted the real thing.
Pierino, I think that you and I must be the only people on this site who actually EAT anchovies!
You can add me to that group :) Nice work, pierino. Love this spin on a classic.
Oh, how much? Just enough to your taste. But do try to keep the balance of flavors with the tuna sauce. I'm sorry I can't precisely quantify that.
These look fabulous and I must say your recipes are a lot of fun to read too!!
Writing about food is fun, and thank you ma'am. This one I just squeeked in under the wire because I've been traveling. I grabbed the veal in transit, no time for a photo...The sauce idea I believe originated in Milano but I haven't been able to track it down yet.
I think that both the Piedmontese and the Milanese claim the sauce; the piedmontese use homemade mayonnaise and the Milanese use cream. I love both versions!
Fany is the author of My Sweet Mexico and Paletas.
I see that I repeated steps 8 and 9 in my rush to make deadline. Sorry about that.