Summer and cooking often do not go together.
When it happens, I start cooking as soon as I wake up, usually very early. Or I choose one dish among the recipes from my summer repertoire. Salads and cold pasta are always some favorites. Another quick dish that does not disappoint expectations is turkey breast with tuna sauce.
I buy sliced roast breast, top it with sauce as if it were Vitello Tonnato, and bring it to the table with a side dish.
I’ll take bets that not a single slice will remain.
Sliced turkey breast with tuna sauce.
It is a genius home recipe.
In the summer, Grandma Sara, as I have been doing for some time now, used to devote herself to preparing meals at dawn. Only when the temperature became hot did she spend more time in the garden and vegetable garden than in the kitchen. But when it came time to sit down at the table, there was always something as satisfying and tempting as this recipe.
It is a reinterpretation of a complex and extraordinary Italian Piedmont dish, Vitello tonnato.
Instead of veal, which needs long cooking, I use roast turkey that I find ready-made and sliced.
Tuna sauce is made with tuna and capers but without mayonnaise. Would you believe it by looking at the pictures?
Besides being a summer dish and quick to prepare, it is also light.
Sometimes I forget the recipes.
Does this happen to you?
When I was a child, I remember the menu was rich and varied, and Grandma did not fill notebooks with her recipes. She left just some written recipes (I talk about it HERE, where you find the recipe for robiola cake). Few recipes compared to the number of recipes that were part of her repertoire.
Anyway, I had forgotten the memory of the turkey breast with tuna sauce until, chatting about old recipes with my friend Ginevra, it came back to me. I immediately made it again, thinking it deserved to be shared on the blog.
That is a well-known and, at the same time, silently treasured recipe at the Bolognese homes where veal is sometimes replaced by other meat, such as less expensive pork. Also faster to cook.
I turned it into a perfect summer dish, replacing the veal or pork roast with sliced turkey breast. Then there is the sauce. It is a tuna sauce but lighter and quicker than the classic. It will be ready in 15 minutes.
Buona cucina, Monica
What for the side?
To accompany this summer dish, which serves as a main course or one-dish meal, you can choose between a la Romagnola tomatoes gratin (HERE find the recipe) or a zucchini, lentil, and blueberry salad (HERE). Or opt for a tomato and basil salad, one of my favorites, perhaps served over friselle bread.
Stay in the know!
To receive unpublished recipes, tips, and food stories, sign up for the Tortellini&CO newsletter. You can disable it anytime.
Keep in Touch.
If you like, follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
Food tips
- For a sauce softer, add a couple of tablespoons of Greek yogurt.
- My friend Geneva adds one anchovy fillet instead of the olives.
Sliced turkey breast with tuna recipe
serves 2
List of Ingredients
140 g sliced turkey breast
1 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon sweet mustard
2 boiled eggs
140 g natural tuna
5 olives, green
olive oil to taste
1 lemon slice and some capers for garnishing
Directions
Cook eggs in boiling water for 5 mins. Drain and wash under cold water. Set aside.
Clean capers and olives under cold water and drain tuna from its oil.
Blend one boiled egg and one boiled yolk, oil, tuna, capers, sweet mustard, olives till the sauce is soften (if you want, add water or yogurt to make it softer).
Place sliced turkey breast on a plate and cover with the sauce.
Garnish with some capers and thin lemon slices.
