Fresh tuna bottarga with sauce. Today I want to propose a typical dish from my city, Messina.
In summer, between June and July, tuna and swordfish cross our Strait to mate. The females already have a ready and full ovary, so when they are caught, the ovary is removed to make bottarga or other delicacies like this one I show you today. Not only is it good, but it is also low in calories, with about 143 kcal per 100 g of raw fish eggs.

Thought for you:

Difficulty: Very easy
Cost: Medium
Portions: 5
Cooking methods: Stovetop
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily
Seasonality: Spring, Summer

402.12 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 402.12 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 16.56 (g) of which sugars 0.56 (g)
Proteins 45.46 (g)
Fat 17.39 (g) of which saturated 3.74 (g)of which unsaturated 4.41 (g)
Fibers 3.24 (g)
Sodium 601.61 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 351 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

Let’s go shopping

2.2 lbs bottarga (fresh from tuna or other fish)
1.76 oz Tropea red onion
1.41 oz extra virgin olive oil
Half lemon
4 leaves bay leaf
to taste salt
4.23 cups tomato puree
to taste basil
0.25 cup white wine (chilled)

Tools

What we need to

Pot large
Cutting Board
Knife
Wooden Spoon
splatter guard
Colander

Preparation of Fresh Tuna Bottarga with Sauce

This is a piece of swordfish ovary, containing thousands of eggs.
To know it’s fresh, the capillary vessels in the covering should be bright red.
Cut the egg into pieces about 1.18 inches.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil with salt, half a lemon, and 2 bay leaves. Then immerse the egg, bring back to a boil, and once boiling, count about 10 minutes.
Then drain and let cool. Once cooled, cut each slice into pieces about 1.18 inches.
Now we will prepare the sauce: in a pot, put the extra virgin olive oil, 1 bay leaf, the chopped onion, and basil.
Sauté for 2 minutes, then…
Add the egg, stir and
deglaze with white wine.
Let the alcohol from the wine evaporate, then..
Pour in the tomato puree, season with salt,
lower the heat, cover with a splatter guard, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.
Now the dish is ready, and you can use the sauce to dress the pasta.
Here is the Fresh Tuna Bottarga with Sauce ready.
and here is a nice plate of pasta