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Tomato Tonnato
Updated Oct. 17, 2023
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- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 5tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1three-ounce can imported tuna packed in olive oil, drained and flaked
- ¼cup mayonnaise
- 2teaspoons drained capers
- 2teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 2anchovy fillets, optional
- 1fat garlic clove, smashed and peeled
- 2tablespoons tightly packed basil leaves, more for garnish
- 2pounds mixed tomatoes, large ones cut in slices, small ones cut in wedges
- Coarse sea salt
- Black pepper
- Crusty bread, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a blender, combine olive oil, tuna, mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, anchovies, garlic and 2 tablespoons basil and purée until creamy.
- Step 2
Lay tomatoes out on a platter and spoon sauce over the tops. Season with salt and a generous amount of pepper and garnish with basil leaves. Serve with bread.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Also, should have mentioned that a can of Ortiz will yield about 3 of the 5 needed tbsp of olive oil. No reason to waste that tuna infused goodness.
We eat this almost weekly when summer tomatoes start arriving. I use a larger size can of tuna and adjust the other ingredients to taste. Also start with a bed of baby arugula. Add a baguette and YUM!
This was seriously delicious! I didn't have tuna so i used drained can of sardines instead and it was fantastic. I was worried the sauce would overwhelm the tomatoes but it was a perfect balance of flavors.
This was delicious and a perfect way to use up all the tomatoes from the garden that ripen every day. ( Although I never thought I'd say this, there really is a limit to how many times one can eat tomatoes & fresh mozzarella and still enjoy it! ) Can be a light dinner with the addition of bread. I went heavier on the anchovies, and added chopped Kalamata olives on top along with the basil.
And if it is a cold day where you are, cook a pound or so of a high quality dry pasta for your step one. Then toss the hot cooked pasta with all the ingredients except the mayonnaise and bread in a very large bowl to distribute everything. I also like to add about a cup of roughly chopped Castlevaltrano Olives sometimes for variety. Serve with extra olive oil on the side with the crusty bread and plenty of shaved Parmesan or Feta, but throw the mayo away.
Rather than using a big blender, a stick blender is sufficient for this.
Delicious. The dressing is also wonderful for a weekday pasta salad - garnish with chopped herbs, scallion, red bell pepper, and black olives. (And I throw in some additional coarsely chopped anchovies, since I can never get enough.). This is great in my lunchbox, too.
The recipe is delicious when made as written, but it’s also surprisingly flexible. No imported tuna in olive oil? Bumble bee in water works fine. No fresh basil? Use parsley. No fresh herbs at all? Use dried basil/parsley. No capers? Use chopped olives. No Mayo? Throw in a few egg yolks and some more oil. No lemons? Use wine vinegar. Definitely not authentic but definitely good. I often use this as a fridge clean out meal and dip all odds and ends of veggies in the sauce, aioli style.
Incredibly addictive. A spoonful makes a great mid-afternoon snack. My changes: used a aioli mayo, no additional garlic needed, used whole can of tuna (4 oz drained) and whole 2 oz can of anchovies, no capers, and a tblsp extra olive oil, all of which came out of the cans of fish.
Made this as directed & delicious. Served with boiled baby potatoes & parboiled green beans as well as tomatoes for a more substantial dinner, and surprisingly kid-friendly. Would be excellent with boiled eggs too.
This is absolutely fantastic! Just two suggestions - first, if your blender is not the most powerful, give the solid ingredients a rough chop before adding to the blender. The first time I made this, it didn't get pureed well enough and I got a gigantic chunk of garlic in one bite and then an even larger chunk of anchovy in another. Second, I add either a tablespoon of red wine vinegar or pickle juice and it adds fantastic acid against the fatty tuna.
Delicious and perfect for a heat wave! The tomatoes and the tonnato sauce are a match made in heaven. So much more zing than poached veal! I had leftover homemade basil mayo and used that. I live in Europe, and I think my blender may be on the large size; there was barely enough sauce for my blender to process it. I added a little more lemon juice and a couple of teaspoons of water, to ease the processing,an the sauce was still delicious. (Next time I'll use the small bowl of my food processor.)
Fantastic recipe! Doubled because my can of tuna was 6oz (Tonnino in olive oil, good stuff). Used all the oil before adding additional. Only 2 of us, so half was leftover. Turned it into pasta salad as suggested, which has been lovely lunching/snacking: elbow pasta (generous 1/2lb from dry), chopped marinated artichoke hearts, the leftover heirloom tomatoes (diced & lightly salted with crushed Maldon), crushed red pepper flakes, and sweet peas cooked with the pasta for the final minute. Yum.
Try Tastee-Lee brand tomatoes. This company is large enough to have growing fields from Florida up to Tennessee; so they are always grown in the proper climate.There is no other tomato with as much flavor as this brand. These are better than your heirloom, Ugly or Beefstake. They come packed in 1 lb boxes or loose. I buy them at the local Publix and at Walmart, if I get there early enough. I live on Marco Island.
Why add commercially prepared mayonnaise? If you think an emulsifier is called for, an egg yolk will do - with a little more oil. Pasteurize if you're squeamish, or cooking for folks with compromised immunity.
This is fantastic. I've made it multiple times and my girlfriend loves it as much as I do. Anchovies: yes!
This is so, so, so tasty, even with May supermarket tomatoes. The tonnato sauce is punchy and creamy, flavorful and moreish without smacking you in the face with saltiness. I didn't use anchovies, but I did use an 8 oz (with oil) jar of premium tuna, and arbitrarily increased some of the other ingredients. I doubt you can go far wrong with this formula. Lip-smackingly delicious.
Divine - in this year of abundant garden tomatoes, this is a wonderful way to serve them! Putting this on repeat. Perfect with a thick toasted slice of olive sourdough bread. And next time… I might add in a glass of rose. It would be wonderful as bruschetta, stuffed into cherry tomatoes - lots of ways to use this wonderful, savory recipe.
Lovely light lunch dish. This is one of those forgotten classics that's worth revisiting. I first had tonnato sauce over cold veal; the tomatoes bring a fresh, juicy summeriness that makes it something memorable.
Ideal late summer dinner to help use up tomatoes and basil, especially with sliced boiled potatoes for some heft. Very versatile, as others have noted. But unless you quadruple the sauce, a big blender is not the right tool--there's not enough stuff to engage the blades. Use a stick blender, or a Magic Bullet, or if you have a larger mortar and pestle that would probably work too.
OK. If you're doubting all the rave reviews, try this anyway. I have made with with both sardines and tuna, and I have been keeping it on hand to add some protein to my snacks-right now, I'm eating it with a thin slice of cucumber, slather of sauce, and a Sungold tomato on top. OMG. Wonderful! Takes me 10 min in the blender. Food processor leaves visible pieces of things, while the blender makes a smooth spread, which I prefer. I don't add salt because the ingred provide that.
Good base recipe, but really easy to modify to your likings. I omitted the mayonnaise because I was out, but olive oil did the trick. Turned this into an uncooked sauce for pasta along with fresh tomatoes and it was lovely. Definitely added more anchovies than asked for, because they are just so flavorful, along with some vinegar to give it more acid
Absolutley delicious!
Have already made this 2 nights in a row, and it's my new favorite dish! First night, I didn't have capers, so I subbed a mix of a few caselvetranos and cornichons. Yum! Second night, I had it all, and we spread the deliciousness on toasted everything bagels topped with slices of fresh tomatoes sprinkled w/a little salt. That was divine and will now be my go-to for making a bagel sandwich! I plan to see if it works as well as a dip or spread for roasted beets. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Fantastic recipe! Doubled because my can of tuna was 6oz (Tonnino in olive oil, good stuff). Used all the oil before adding additional. Only 2 of us, so half was leftover. Turned it into pasta salad as suggested, which has been lovely lunching/snacking: elbow pasta (generous 1/2lb from dry), chopped marinated artichoke hearts, the leftover heirloom tomatoes (diced & lightly salted with crushed Maldon), crushed red pepper flakes, and sweet peas cooked with the pasta for the final minute. Yum.
Use immersion blender by all means!
Made for first time, very nice but my crew wanted zippier so a generous dollop of Old Bay and more tuna and lemon than the recipe calls for rendered it a keeper! Would also make a fine dip for football season, something different than the usual fare
Excellent! Used Trader Joe’s Artichoke pasta as a base with the home grown tomatoes and sourdough bread as a side
Any ideas for a vegetarian version of this?
You could probably sub tofu for tuna and coconut aminos or veg fish sauce for the real deal with decent results. Personally, I'd look for an intentionally vegetarian recipe instead but wish you happy experimenting and eating.
Wonderful as a base for nicoise veggies too! Top with boiled potatoes, green beans, boiled egg, and olives.
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