Petit Aioli with Canned Tuna
I love this dish because it’s a fresh, light way to start a meal, but also because it’s pretty: the olives, rainbow carrots, and varying vegetables arrange themselves into interesting shapes and pockets to show off their natural vibrancy. It’s also an easy way to serve a lot of people, and it can be made in advance. Serve this on a big platter family style, ideally outdoors, with a bottle or two of rosé.
Ingredients
Serves 6
- 1 pound fingerling potatoes
- 1 tablespoon salt plus more for seasoning
- 2 bunches baby carrots ideally rainbow, tops removed and peeled
- 2 fennel bulbs bottoms trimmed
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 small tomatoes Early Girl or Roma preferred
- 1 large red bell pepper stemmed and seeded
- 1 zucchini
- 1 egg yolk at room temperature
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Juice from ½ lemon
- 4 eggs hard-boiled (see this page), peeled, and halved lengthwise
- 1 cup green olives
- 7 ounces canned solid tuna packed in oil drained
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cover the potatoes in cold water in a large pot.
- Add the salt and turn the heat to medium.
- Simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
- Drain and let the potatoes cool, setting one aside for the aioli.
- Once cooled to room temperature, cut them in half lengthwise.
- Meanwhile, blanch the carrots and fennel.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil on high heat and set a large bowl of cold water next to your stove.
- Once boiling, add a pinch of salt.
- Dunk the carrots and fennel in the boiling water for 30 seconds, then use a large slotted spoon to immediately plunge them into the cold water.
- The cold water stops the vegetables from cooking and keeps their bright, raw color.
- Leave the carrots whole and quarter the fennel.
- Set aside.
- Cook the garlic in the boiling water for 2 minutes.
- Drain and run cold water over the garlic to halt the cooking process.
- Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, then in half lengthwise again to make wedges.
- Cut the bell pepper into quarters.
- Discard the zucchini’s end, cut it into 2-inch lengths, then cut the pieces into quarters.
- Set aside.
- Peel the skin from the reserved fingerling potato (don’t use a warm potato or it will cook the egg).
- Using a mortar and pestle, smash the softened garlic to form a paste.
- (If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, use a hand whisk, but finely chop the softened garlic and smash the cooked potato with a fork before you begin.
- ) Add the potato and continue to smash until combined.
- Add the egg yolk and continue to smash and stir.
- Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, continuing to stir aggressively.
- Add a few drops at a time at first, being careful not to add too much oil at once or the sauce will break.
- When the sauce becomes too thick to stir, add a few drops of cold water.
- Continue with this process, adding cold water as necessary to thin, until all of the oil has been incorporated.
- Season with salt to taste, and then stir in the lemon juice.
- To serve, arrange the tomatoes, vegetables, eggs, and olives attractively in a large bowl or serving dish.
- Sometimes I layer the vegetables randomly, sometimes I group like things together.
- Get creative and have fun.
- Use your hands to break up the tuna into large pieces and evenly spread it on top of the vegetables.
- Very lightly salt and pepper the entire dish.
- Serve alongside small bowls of the aioli and your best olive oil.