Community Cookbook: Antica Pesa’s Vitello Tonnato

Antica Pesa (115 Berry St.), known for Roman classics like Cacio e Pepe, is celebrating its tenth anniversary in Brooklyn this fall. 

This week, Antica Pesa has shared its recipe for Vitello Tonnato, a dish made with slow-cooked top round veal, caramel capers, fresh tuna, and an anchovy sauce. 

“This is a very traditional dish in Italy, and we serve it in Brooklyn with some modern twists,” said Amanda Firine, the Head of Marketing for Antica Pesa.

Check out Antica Pesa’s recipe for Vitello Tonnato below. For last week’s Community Cookbook recipe, click here. 

Vitello Tonnato

Ingredients

VEAL:

800 grams (or about 28.2 ounces) of round veal

1 shallot

Extra virgin olive oil 

Maldon salt

Ground black pepper

TUNA SAUCE:

150 grams (or about 5.29 ounces) of fresh tuna

2 hard-boiled eggs

4 anchovy fillets

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of desalted capers

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of white balsamic vinegar

10 grams (about .35 ounce) of  extra virgin olive oil

MAYONNAISE:

 2 egg yolks

 25 milliliters (or about 1.69 tablespoons) of rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar

 1/2 teaspoon of sugar

 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

 8 grams (about .28 ounce) of salt

 200 milliliters (about .83 cup) of seed oil

 CAPERS:

 300 grams (or about 10.5 ounces) of desalted capers

 300 grams (about 10.5 ounces) of sugar

 300 grams (about 10.5 ounces) of white balsamic vinegar 

 300 grams (about 10.5 ounces) of extra virgin olive oil

Directions

VEAL

(Antica Pesa recommends using a steam oven. If you do not have a steam oven, use a static oven at the same temperature.)

1. Clean and massage veal with extra virgin olive oil, Maldon salt and pepper, and cover it with a finely julienned shallot.
2. Place everything on a perforated pan. (Use a regular pan underneath to contain the liquids which will release the meat.)
3. Bake at 64 degrees celsius (147.2 F) in a steam oven until the piece of veal reaches 54 degrees celsius (129.2 F).
4. Once ready, let it cool.

TUNA SAUCE

1. Boil two eggs for 6 minutes in boiling water and cool.
2. After they have cooled, peel the eggs and put them aside.
3. Sear the fresh tuna with the anchovies and capers.
4. Blend everything together, adding the eggs and slowly pouring in the white balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

MAYONNAISE

1. In a tall, narrow container, add the egg yolks, oil, salt, sugar, rice (or apple cider) vinegar and mustard mix using an immersion blender at maximum speed. 
2. Once mayonnaise starts to become creamy, and only then, move the blender up and down to finish mixing all the ingredients and whipping the mayo.  
3. Once it is thick and creamy, place it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge ready to accompany the dish.  

* Since there are raw eggs, the mayonnaise must be consumed within one day. 

CAPERS

1. Pour 300 grams of sugar and 300 grams of white balsamic vinegar (about 10.5 ounces of each) into a small sauce pan and reduce until the consistency of a syrup is obtained. 
2. Add capers and cook for about 45 minutes.
3. Slowly incorporate the extra virgin olive oil.

PLATING

1. Cut the veal into very thin slices of about 5 millimeters (about .2 inch). 
2. Place veal slices on a plate and distribute the three sauces according to your liking for presentation. Buon Appetito!