The pork loin with tuna sauce is my personal reinterpretation of another great classic of Italian cuisine, the veal with tuna sauce. The recipe, which I only partially followed, is that of Pellegrino Artusi and involves only the preparation of the tuna sauce without mayonnaise. It is a very easy, succulent dish, perfect for using up leftovers from roasts, grilled meats, and so on. The first time I prepared it because I had quite a bit of leftover pork loin without the accompanying sauce; so, I decided to dress it with a delicious tuna sauce in Artusi’s original version without mayonnaise. This dish can be served as a main course but also stands out among appetizers; moreover, it contains neither eggs, gluten, nor lactose or milk proteins. The pork loin with tuna sauce should be prepared well in advance (at least two days before) to allow the meat to absorb the flavors. In this regard, Artusi recommends marinating it in a container, for a few days, after seasoning it with plenty of sauce. The pork loin should be sliced very thinly (where possible), as it is drier than veal. In my opinion, this dish is at its best when served cold. Here’s how I prepared it.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Day
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Christmas
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs pork loin
- 3 carrots
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- 2 crushed cloves
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 sliced onion (golden)
- 1 glass dry white wine (about ¾ cup)
- 1.3 cups boiling water
- to taste fine salt
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 stalk celery
- 1/4 teaspoon curry (optional)
- 1 freshly ground pepper
- 14 oz tuna in oil or natural
- 20 capers in salt
- 1 lemon
- 3 fillets anchovies in oil
Steps
Let’s prepare the pork loin with tuna sauce
Use a tall and large pan enough to hold a 2.2 lbs pork loin, considering that after cooking, the meat will have lost about 30% of its initial weight.
Thinly slice the onion, after removing the inedible discard parts.
Wash and coarsely chop the celery stalk and carrots.
Wash the rosemary and bay leaves and pat them dry with absorbent paper.
Crush the cloves.
Put 1.3 cups of water to heat in a small saucepan.
Pour the extra virgin olive oil into the pan and heat it on a medium burner over low flame (in this case, I brown the meat only in the oil, without the classic spices and aromas, because they would risk burning during the browning of the meat which requires between 7 and 10 minutes at most).
When the oil is hot enough, add the pork loin, raise the flame and brown it perfectly on all sides (do not rush this step), turning it often with wooden utensils that do not pierce the meat. It is important, in fact, that all the juices remain inside the loin to make it as tender as possible when cooking is finished.
When the meat is evenly browned, add the sliced onion, celery, carrots and all the other spices.
Moisten the pork loin with white wine and let the alcoholic part evaporate over high heat.
When the alcohol has evaporated, salt, pepper, and add the boiling water.
Cover the pan, lower the heat to the minimum and let it cook for about 45 minutes.
To check the cooking and ensure the loin stays pink, I used a probe meat thermometer.
I turned off the stove as soon as the meat reached the core (center) temperature of 145°F. It took 50 minutes in my case.
I moved the pan away from the burners and let the loin cool inside the pan, in its sauce, for 12 hours, without touching it.
Let’s prepare the sauce
You can use either tuna in oil or natural; I prefer the latter because the sauce has a lighter, less heavy flavor, but it’s only a matter of taste.
Drain the tuna thoroughly from the liquid (be it oil or water), placing it in a large colander.
Rinse the capers and leave them in fresh water for a few minutes to remove as much salt as possible.
In the bowl of a blender, combine all the above ingredients, to which we will add the anchovy fillets, the finely chopped peel, and the juice of a whole lemon.
Blend until you obtain a soft and very fluid mixture (more fluid than yogurt, to be clear) and refrigerate (if the sauce turns out too dense, add a little more lemon juice or extra virgin olive oil).
After 12 hours, remove the loin from its sauce (which I use, after blending everything, to dress risottos, pappardelle, tagliatelle and so on), remove any fat that will have surfaced during the meat’s resting and slice it as thinly as possible.
Let’s prepare an earthenware or glass casserole.
Spread some tuna sauce on the bottom of the casserole and add the slices of meat, alternating layers of tuna sauce with layers of meat. Cover with cling film in contact and let it flavor for at least another 12 hours in the fridge. The pork loin with tuna sauce is ready to be served.
Bon appetit
