Skip to main content
LoginSign Up
Snap Pea and Radish Salad with Olive Oil Tuna

Snap Pea and Radish Salad with Olive Oil Tuna

By Elizabeth MindreauOctober 26, 2021

  • Makes
    6 servings
  • Cook Time
    30 minutes

Italian tonnato is a silky sauce made with olive oil–packed tuna. It traditionally is served with chilled slices of veal, but we use it as a sauce for a crisp, colorful salad of blanched sugar snap peas and peppery red radishes. It’s important to use tuna packed in olive oil for this recipe. Its texture and taste are richer than tuna in water or vegetable oil, and you will use some of the oil as a flavor-boosting ingredient. Some varieties of snap peas are stringless; if yours are, you need only to trim the stem ends.

Tip

Don't let the snap peas stand for more than a couple of minutes in the ice water or they will become waterlogged. After draining the peas, be sure to dry them well so residual water won't dilute the salad. We suggest laying them out on a clean kitchen towel, patting them dry and leaving them uncovered to air-dry while you continue with the recipe.

Ingredients

  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper

  • 1

    pound sugar snap peas, trimmed, strings removed if present

  • 1

    pound bunch red radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced

  • 2

    tablespoons poppy seeds OR toasted sliced almonds

  • 5

    tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • 2

    5-ounce cans olive oil-packed tuna, drained, oil reserved, flaked into bite-size pieces

  • 2

    tablespoons grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice

  • ¼

    cup mayonnaise

Step 1

Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts water to a boil.

Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and the snap peas, then cook until the peas are bright green and tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain in a colander, transfer to the ice water. Let stand until completely cooled, about 2 minutes. Drain again, reserving the bowl, then pat the peas dry.

Step 2

In the same bowl, toss together the peas, radishes, poppy seeds, 2 tablespoons of oil and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, toss the tuna with 3 tablespoons of the reserved tuna oil, the lemon zest and juice, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Step 3

In a blender, combine half of the tuna mixture, the mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon water. Puree, drizzling in the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, until the mixture is smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Spread the puree on a serving platter. Spoon the vegetables on top, then scatter on the remaining tuna mixture.