I’m serving veal tongue sliders with tonnato sauce and arugula at this year’s Music City Food + Wine Festival Harvest Night. If you’re feeling ambitious and want to make them at home, here’s the recipe!
Veal Tongue Sliders
Ingredients
Veal Tongue
- 3 1/2 pounds veal tongue
- 1/4 bottle white wine
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 4 peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- Water to cover
Tonnato Sauce
- 1/2 pound tuna in olive oil
- 6 anchovy filets
- 1 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons brined capers
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon parsley, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Rocket Salad Dressing
- 1 1/2 cups olive oil
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- arugula and slider buns to serve
Instructions
Preheat convection oven to 325 degrees F.
Cut onions into eights, leaving root intact. Rough chop celery. Crush peppercorns with mortar & pestle to allow oils to mix with braising liquids.
Put onions, celery, bay leaves, and peppercorns into a large roasting pan or oven-safe stock pot, and place tongues on top. Add wine & water to just cover tongues. Cover tightly with two layers of aluminum foil. Braise in oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Remove from oven, and place on trays. Cool for 10 minutes.
Using tongs or gloved hands, remove the loose skin on the tongues. These are the taste buds. Discard these. Save braising liquid. Place in refrigerator and allow to cool completely.
Using a slicer, slice tongues very thin. Cover sliced tongue with braising liquid.
Tonnato Sauce
Combine drained tuna, capers, anchovies, oil and lemon in a food processor until it becomes a paste.
Fold in mayonnaise, parsley and lemon juice. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Adjust seasoning as required.
Rocket Dressing
Place lemon juice and mustard into a non-reactive bowl. Whisk in the oil in a steady stream until emulsified.
Make the Sandwich
Griddle the veal tongue until crispy. Place about 2 ounces of tongue on a toasted bun. Top with arugula dressed with rocket salad dressing. Place roughly one tablespoon of tonnato sauce on the top of the arugula.
Photograph by Jen van Kaam.
