The best veal with tuna sauce I’ve ever eaten, and yes, I prepared it myself for the first time using low-temperature cooking with a sous vide machine. I bought the sous vide machine after Christmas and used it several times to make excellent pork ribs, but I hadn’t tried making other recipes yet. However, today I decided to prepare something special, suitable for this hot day, a dish I always enjoy, veal with tuna sauce, and incredibly, I had never tried making it before, not even with the classic recipe that involves boiling the meat for about an hour. I browsed online and found various preparations, some similar, others quite different, but they all talk about the original Piedmontese veal with tuna sauce recipe, but which one is the real deal? Who knows, I’m not even Piedmontese, I’m proudly Calabrian. But I’m sure my aunt from Saluzzo will now give me some tips, but in the meantime, I’ll share my veal with tuna sauce, as always in my own way, since talking about an original recipe is almost forbidden now. For the recipe, I used a nice piece of beef eye round, slow-cooked with my INKBIRD ISV-101W sous vide machine and for the sauce, a few simple ingredients: tuna, anchovies, capers, and mayonnaise, with a bit of olive oil. The mayonnaise should be homemade with an immersion blender, it’s special.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Expensive
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Veal with Tuna Sauce
- 21 oz veal eye round
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 leaves bay leaf
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise
- 4 oz tuna in olive oil
- to taste salted capers
- 4 anchovies in oil
- to taste olive oil
Tools for Preparing Veal with Tuna Sauce
- 1 Vacuum Sealer
- 1 Vacuum Bag
- 1 Sous Vide Machine
- 1 Immersion Blender
- 1 Meat Slicer
Steps for Preparing Veal with Tuna Sauce with Low Temperature Cooking
If necessary, clean the veal eye round, removing any fat parts. Then place a sprig of rosemary and bay leaves on top, put in a vacuum bag, and seal. There’s no need to use salt or brown the meat beforehand.
Cook the veal eye round sous vide, in a tall pot filled with water. Place the bag inside, insert the sous vide machine, and start the program, cooking at 140°F for 4 hours. The result is tender, flavorful meat with a nice pink color. If you want it more cooked, just increase the temperature to 150 or 160°F or more, depending on how you prefer it, but I find it delicious this way, juicy and tasty. Here is my Inkbird Sous Vide Review.
When finished, immediately immerse the bag in ice water to stop the cooking.
Meanwhile, prepare the tuna sauce. Put mayonnaise in a bowl with tuna, washed capers, and anchovy fillets in oil. Add a bit of olive oil, or if preferred, a little beef broth, and blend until you get a cream that’s not too liquid.
Once the meat is completely cooled, open the bag, avoiding spilling the contained juices.
On a cutting board with a very sharp knife, slice the meat. I preferred using a meat slicer; I have an economical but very functional one, which makes everything much simpler.
Arrange the meat slices on a platter and dress with spoonfuls of sauce, garnishing with caper berries or some capers. Our veal with tuna sauce is ready to serve.
If you don’t have a sous vide machine for slow cooking, you can prepare veal with tuna sauce using the classic recipe. Place in a pot with herbs, celery, carrot, and onion.
If you don’t have a sous vide machine for low-temperature cooking, you can also cook the eye round in the traditional way, in a pot covered with water, starting cold, for about 35-40 minutes from boiling, on low heat. If you check the internal temperature with a kitchen thermometer between 140-150°F, it will be perfect. You can also add a carrot and celery, and if you want, tie the eye round so it maintains a perfect shape.
It can be stored for a couple of days in the fridge. I recommend storing the sauce separately to add at the last moment.
