If you measure a recipe by how good you can make a whole bunch of stuff from your pantry taste, then tonnato sauce is gonna be tough to beat. It’s made from really basic ingredients, with most of them coming from a tin. We won’t even ask you to make your own mayonnaise; use one from a bottle and don’t tell anyone. And if making a sauce with tuna, anchovies and mayonnaise doesn’t freak you out enough… well... we’ve gone and smeared it over a pork chop. The dressing is punchy but has a nice amount of fat too. We think it works beautifully with the pork but, honestly, this dressing will be as good on cold beef or even charred green beans and fennel.
What you’ll need:
1 x thick pork rib chop
2 - 3 high-quality anchovy fillets
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 x tin tuna, drained
Juice and zest of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra
1 tbsp capers, drained plus extra to garnish
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper
What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 200 Degrees Celsius. Smear olive oil on the pork chop and season with salt and pepper. Add a small amount of oil to an oven-proof pan and cook gently on the stove, turning often. Do this for about 4 - 5 minutes, until pork is nicely coloured. Make sure you’re getting the fat side of the chop onto direct heat every now and then.
2. Transfer pan to oven and cook for 12 - 15 minutes, or until done to your liking. (REMEMBER THAT IT’S OKAY TO EAT HIGH-QUALITY PORK, SLIGHTLY PINK.) Remove from oven and set aside to rest.
3. Meanwhile, make your sauce by blending everything except salt and pepper until smooth. Add a bit of water, if necessary. Taste and season accordingly.
4. To serve, slice meat from the bone and then cut into pieces, towards the bone. Push meat back towards the bone, allowing pieces to fan out.
5. Spoon sauce over meat and garnish with extra capers.