Pasta Tonnato Recipes

PASTA AL TONNO

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the spaghetti in a colander.
• While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the capers and garlic and cook, stirring, until the garlic is golden, about 1 minute. Add the bruschetta topping, red pepper flakes and a pinch of black pepper and cook, stirring, until hot, about 4 minutes.
• Add the drained spaghetti to the skillet along with the tuna, parsley and about 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water. Add more cooking water to loosen if desired and serve.

TONNATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Blend tuna with reserved oil, mayonnaise, anchovies, olive oil, lemon juice, capers, and garlic together in a blender until completely smooth. Season with cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper.

TONNATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Place all ingredients, except pepper, in a blender. Puree until smooth. Season, to taste, with pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Sauce may be made up to 1 day in advance.

CHEF JOHN'S SPAGHETTI AL TONNO

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir anchovy and capers in hot oil until anchovy crumbles, about 2 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Pour white wine, oregano, and red pepper flakes into the skillet and increase heat to high; cook until mixture reduces and about 3 tablespoons of liquid remain, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Stir tomatoes into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Season tomato mixture with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes.
• Stir tuna and 1/4 cup parsley into tomato sauce, breaking up tuna with a wooden spoon while stirring. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until almost cooked through and still slightly firm to the bite, 9 to 11 minutes. Drain and transfer spaghetti back to the pot.
• Pour tomato sauce over spaghetti into the pot; stir to combine, cover the pot with a lid, and let sit until spaghetti is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Ladle spaghetti into bowls, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkle Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and parsley over the top.

PASTA TONNATO NESTS

Steps:

• Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, about 2 minutes for fresh and 10 minutes for dried. Drain pasta. Return to same pot and toss with oil.
• Combine sauce and wine in heavy medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Mix in tuna and olives, being careful to keep tuna in fairly large pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
• Divide pasta between 2 plates. Using large spoon, make indentation in centers of pasta to create "nests." Spoon sauce into centers. Sprinkle each with basil.

TOMATO TONNATO

Steps:

• In a blender, combine olive oil, tuna, mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic and 2 tablespoons basil and purée until creamy.
• Lay tomatoes out on a platter and spoon sauce over the tops. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper and garnish with basil leaves. Serve with bread.

VITELLO TONNATO

Steps:

• In a pot just large enough to fit veal, put wine, celery, onion, carrot, leek, marjoram, thyme and garlic. Add 3 inches of water, and bring to a boil. Add veal, and bring back to a boil. Immediately turn off heat, cover pot and let veal cool in its liquid 2 to 3 hours. When completely cool, thinly slice veal. Slices should be about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick.
• While veal cools, make sauce: In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/4 teaspoon salt until pale yellow and the consistency of cream. Beginning a drop at a time, add 1 1/4 cups oil, whisking continually. As mixture thickens, you can add oil more quickly. When it gets quite thick, whisk in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Continue adding oil until all of it has been absorbed and mayonnaise is quite thick and shiny. Whisk in another tablespoon of lemon juice.
• Drain tuna, and put it in a food processor with anchovies, remaining cup olive oil, remaining lemon juice and capers. Process until you get a creamy, uniformly blended sauce. Scrape sauce into bowl with mayonnaise and fold to combine. Taste. It should be quite tangy and highly seasoned. Refrigerate until needed.
• To assemble dish: remove 3/4 cup sauce, and reserve to serve alongside veal. Smear bottom of a large serving platter with some of the remaining tuna sauce. Place a layer of veal slices on top, meeting edge to edge without overlapping. Cover with sauce, then make another layer of meat and sauce. Repeat until all the meat is used. Leave yourself enough sauce to blanket top layer.
• Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving. Garnish with some or all suggested ingredients. Serve with reserved sauce on the side.

TONNATO SAUCE

Steps:

• In a blender purée all ingredients, including oil from tuna can, until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

CHICKEN TONNATO

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in ovenproof skillet over high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in skillet, skin-side down, until brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip; cook 1 minute. Remove chicken; add vegetables. Reduce heat to medium low; cook 5 to 6 minutes.
• Add wine, and bring to boil. Stir in the herbs, capers, and tuna; add the chicken. Transfer skillet to oven, and roast until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken; transfer to cutting board.
• Discard herbs. Let tuna cool; puree until smooth. Add mayonnaise and juice. Slice chicken; arrange over arugula. Top with chilled sauce

TONNATO MAYONNAISE

Steps:

• Puree first five ingredients with 1 teaspoon water in a blender until smooth. With blender running, add oil in a steady stream. Refrigerate in an airtight container at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.