‘Vitello tonnato’ is one of my favourite Italian dishes. It’s normally made with veal but I prefer to serve it with beef because it’s so much easier and I sometimes feel a bit funny about eating veal. From ‘5 Ingredients 10 Minutes’ Print Book page 256
Beef Tonnato
Ingredients
- 1 can canned tuna (185g / 6oz), drained
- 8 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 350 g sliced roast beef from the deli
- 1 bag salad leaves
Instructions
- Place tuna in a bowl and mash with a fork to remove any chunks.
- Stir in the mayo and lemon juice. Taste and season.
- Tear beef into bight sized pieces and toss in the dressing.
- Arrange beef on a platter or wooden chopping board and scatter leaves on the side.
Variations
vegetarian – try an egg salad. Slice 5-6 hard boiled eggs, skip the tuna and serve with the lemony mayo and salad leaves.
diy – replace the deli beef with home poached beef or veal that has been cooled and finely sliced.
more wintery – replace beef with steaks. Cook and rest then slice and serve hot steak with the sauce and salad.
more substantial (carb lovers)– serve with crusty bread or warm pita.
more substantial (low carb) – more beef or sauce.
Problem Solving Guide
too creamy – sounds like you’ve got an excess mayo situation. Just add a little more lemon juice to balance out the creaminess.
too bland? – don’t forget to season. A little more lemon help too.
too dry – toss in a little more mayonnaise.
Waste Avoidance Guide
can tuna – keep it in the pantry.
mayonnaise – unopened in pantry or in fridge once opened.
lemon juice – will keep for months in a plastic bag in the fridge.
sliced roast beef from the deli – freeze it.
salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they wont go slimey.
Prepare Ahead?
Absolutely. Just scatter the rocket leaves over before serving.
Leftover Potential
Great!. Will keep in the fridge for a week or so.
Serving Suggestions
Great as a meal on it’s own.
Or serve as part of an Italian picnic or casual lunch with a few other salads and some crusty bread.
Mayonnaise recipe
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Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Chicken and turkey breasts also work well with the tonnato sauce.
YES Linda!
OOOOH yummmmm … didn’t get round to this in the dinner challenge .. but today! yes, a new favorite! 😀 light summer lunch, here we go!
Yes it’s perfect in Summer Sandra! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
Since I don’t eat meat, I decided to stick with the tuna portion of this recipe. I had a big beefsteak tomato from the garden, a can of tuna, homemade mayo and a head of butter lettuce. I put the greens in a wide bowl, mixed up the tuna salad (with a little dill for tang), cored and sectioned the tomato to form a cup, filled it with the tuna and placed it on the greens. I added some Ranch I made from the extra mayo and dressed the greens.I garnished with some diced onion and chopped macadamias. Really great summertime dinner and enough tuna left to do it again!
Very creative to substitute tomato for the beef Linda – can imagine it was delicious (making a mental note to try it when it’s Summer here!
I was very intrigued with this recipe and it turned out great! I made two versions for dinner, one with tuna for myself and one with canned chicken for my husband who doesn’t like fish. We ate it over salad leaves and both really enjoyed it! I
Great that you both enjoyed Katherine!
When i looked at making this recipe for the 10 day challenge, it seemed odd to mix tuna and roast beef together. I was pleasantly surprised how these two ingredients worked well and when paired with rocket and spinach greens, was very tasty.
So glad you tried it even though you had doubts Meika!
I did make this Thursday afternoon. It reminds me too much of my starving artist days when I’d mix 1 can of tuna with a LOT of mayo then lemon juice in water with a LOT of sugar.. Hmmm. I made the mayo/tuna/lemon juice and then had it over a hamburger just to say I tried!! I would have liked deli roast beef tho and I considered salmon might make me happier but I wanted to say I did this.
Wow Kris – tuna mayo and sugar – you starving artitists sure are creative!
Lemony mayo with added lemon zest was a big hit (I made the hard-boiled egg version).
Yay Debbie!
This was dinner tonight, made with some beef, cooked a while ago, from the freezer. Had it with a big handful of baby spinach. There is some left for lunch tomorrow; I’ll add a hardboiled egg as suggested below in the comments.
Excellent Karen!
We had Tonnato yesterday evening. Despite my initial misgivings and the ambivalence of my family members as I turned it out. Overall, we All enjoyed it! We added on warmed flatbread, olive teppanade, radishes And assorted greens we had in our fridge or garden.
Love, love tuna in olive oil as so much more flavorful than tuna packed in water! Hard cooked egg made a great substitution for beef. Mixed lettuces made this another winner. Half way through this challenge and am on target to my goal. I am sold on your way of planning/eating. Thanks!
Wow Julie! Already at your goal with a week to go – that’s fab!
And so glad you enjoyed this – boiled eggs would be a perfect sub for the beef. Yum!
And so glad I’ve ‘sold’ you 😉 Although it really sells itself doesn’t it.
Made Beef Tonnato for supper tonight. Enjoyed the combo very much. I too was slightly sceptical but I would put this on repeat for hot summer days. Very nice on a hot evening…nothing to heat up! Really loved the addition of lemon zest and taste/texture with a forkful of the greens.
Yes it’s a good one for Summer Carolyn!