Fresh tuna roe in tomato sauce. Today I want to introduce you to a typical dish from my city, Messina.
In summer, between June and July, tuna and swordfish pass through our Strait to mate. The females already have their ovaries ready and full, so when they are caught, their ovaries are removed to make roe or other delicacies like this one I’m showing you today. Not only is it tasty, but it’s also low in calories; imagine that 100 grams of raw fish egg has about 143 kcal.

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 roe (fresh tuna or any other fish)
1.8 oz red Tropea onion
2.8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Half lemon
4 leaves bay leaf
to taste salt
1 quart tomato puree
to taste basil
2.0 oz white wine (chilled)

Tools

What you need to make

Pot large
Cutting Board
Knife
Wooden Spoon
splash guard
Colander

Preparation of Fresh Tuna Roe in Tomato Sauce

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