Saltimbocca (Roman Style Veal Scallopini)

I’m still trying to catch on to the true “Italian Style” of cooking and it often eludes me. I especially have been baffled on what to make as a “Secondi Piatti” or Second Course when I have people over for dinner. This Saturday morning I walked to my local grocery store around the corner and was amazed at the spectacular choices available and it dawned on me that I have been shopping at the wrong time! Saturday lunch is traditionally the biggest family meal of the week.

This is when families get together around the table. So on Saturday morning the grocery store is freshly stocked with all of the items needed for this special meal. The market is packed with Nonnas buying the food to prepare the courses that will keep their family coming. Other family members are here buying sweets, bread, cheese or wine that will ensure that when they arrive at Nonnas House they will “knock with their feet”, in other words their hands are full of the gifts they’ve brought so they have to knock with their feet!

The choices were dizzying, would I choose Ossobucco, Veal Scallopini Marsala, Veal Scallopini alla Limone, Pollo al Forno con patate or Polenta with Ragu? I settle on Saltimbocco for tonight but pick up a few other items to try later this week. So I buy some Veal Scallopini, Proscuitto, and a crusty loaf of bread and set off home to try my hand at a traditional Roman “Secondi Piatti”.

Saltimbocca is a Roman Style Veal Scallopini (Scallopini means thin slices). The thin slice of veal is layered with a slice of Proscuitto and a leaf of sage that I snipped from the patio and secured on with a toothpick then sautéed in butter and finished off with a deglazing of white wine. It is very simple and easy to make and an excellent “Secondo” or second course, usually a meat course following the “Primi Piatti”, first course in Italian meals, which is usually pasta but can also be risotto or another starchy dish.

Saltimbocca (Roman Style Veal Scallopini)

4 slices veal scallopini (thin sliced veal)

4 slices Proscuitto
Fresh Sage leaves (I used 12)

Layer the Proscuitto on the slices of veal, top with a sage leaf and secure with a tooth pick.

butter q.b (quanto basta, cooking term that means “as much as is enough”) 1 Tablespoon to sauté and one tablespoon at the end when you are deglazing the pan.
1 cup of white wine

Sauté the veal in butter until golden on both sides, just a few minutes. Remove from pan and deglaze the pan with white wine. Reduce until it is of a nice consistency, you can add another pad of butter if it is desired.

I served my Saltimbocca with roasted rosemary potatoes and sautéed spinach. I was quite pleased with this Secondo and I don’t think it will be my last time making it, these little morsels DO jump into your mouth! I served this dish to some friends visiting from New Zealand and they said it was their favorite dish I made during their two week stay with us!

I look forward to this Secondo being a part of my next dinner party, even if I am serving a table of culinarily discerning Italians!