Fermented Chilli Tonnato Sauce

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If you have never tried or heard of tonnato sauce, allow me to introduce you. Hailing from the north of Italy, it’s a simple sauce made of tuna, mayonnaise, capers and not much else. Other variations sometimes use egg and lemon in place of mayo, but my preference is for speed so that in turn makes mayo my preference. Most commonly known as a component of the dish vitello tonnato, which features said sauce with thin slices of veal, this is a dish I first tried in my early 20s and was an immediate fan. I’m a tuna salad sandwich girly after all.

This recipe is a little twist on the classic tonnato, with added fermented chilli for a lovely subtle kick and beautiful chilli hum on the palate - it would work so well served with anything you might pair tuna with to be honest, but I chose to use very ripe tomatoes and some lavash bread to mop it all up, plus a simple parsley/caper combo to garnish which I’ve detailed below.

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Fermented Chilli Tonnato Sauce

Serves 4 - family style (big platter) or as individual serves for a starter

Ingredients 

Tonnato

• 1/2 cup mayo

• 100g canned tuna, drained

• 1/2 tbsp capers

• 1 heaped tsp fermented chilli

• 2 tbsp broth - I used chicken broth that I had on hand

• Big pinch of salt

To serve

• Ripe tomatos

• Extra capers

• Olive oil

• Flat leaf parsley

• Bread of your choosing!

Method 

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the tonnato sauce in a blender and blitz until smooth. You can keep this chunkier if you like, or go for a super smooth sauce like I’ve done here. If you’re after a chunkier sauce, omit the chicken broth.

2. Make a quick caper/parsley garnish by finely chopping a few small sprigs of parsley (yielding about 1 tbsp) and combining that with 1 tbsp of capers, a pinch of salt and lots of good olive oil.

3. Slice the tomatoes into thick rounds and place on kitchen paper to help draw out some of the excess moisture. Season each side with flaky sea salt.

4. Add the tonnato sauce to the base of a plate. Top with thick cut slices of tomatoes and drizzle with the caper/parsley mix to garnish.