One of the most famous of all meat dishes in the Roman culinary repertoire, the veal scaloppini known as saltimbocca typify Roman cooking in their simple, lusty deliciousness. The name means ‘leap into the mouth’, a reference to how very good they really are. Â They are really quite easy to make, too, so long as you keep a few cardinal points in mind.
Ingredients
For each person:
- 1-2 veal scallops (see Notes)
- 1-2 slices of prosciutto
- 1-2 fresh sage leaves
Plus:
Directions
You begin with slices of veal known as scallopine. Trim off any loose meat or connective tissue. Then pound them very thin between two sheets of wax or parchment paper. Then lay a thin slice of prosciutto and a single sage leaf over each slice of veal. Skewer them all together with a wooden toothpick like this:
Heat a skillet or sauté pan large enough to hold all your veal slices comfortably. Add a bit of olive oil and butter. When the butter melts, add your veal slices, with the prosciutto and sage side facing down. Allow it to brown for just a minute. (NB: The prosciutto will harden if it fries too long.)
Then flip each over and brown on the other side, again for only a minute or so, seasoning with salt (just a bit, since the prosciutto is already salty) and pepper:
Remove the veal slices from the pan and arranged on a warmed serving platter. Then deglaze the sucs that will have formed in the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and swirl in a dab on butter until it has completely melted.
Pour the resulting sauce over your veal slices and serve immediately
Notes
The main ‘trick‘ to this otherwise easy dish is to ensure tenderness. Veal scallopine are typically cut from the top round. You can find them pre-sliced in the better supermarkets or butchers, but they are rarely made correctly here in the US. They should be cut across the grain but are almost always cut with the grain. That means the muscle fibers remain intact and the meat tends to curl and toughen as it cooks.
What to do? Well, if you are on good terms with your butcher (assuming that you have a butcher, a professional that is sadly quickly disappearing) you can ask him to give you properly made scallopine. Otherwise, it becomes essential to pound the meat very well. The pounding will partially break up the fibers and tenderize the meat. And make sure that you trim off any silverskin or other connective tissue attached to the meat.
Many modern recipes call for using a non-stick skillet. That works fine, but if you follow the traditional recipe, you’ll want those lovely sucs that will only form if you use a stainless steel (or copper) pan. Many people these days shy away from these materials because they are afraid of the meat sticking. But if you heat your pan properly, that should not be problem.
Finally, there is the eternal question: do you place your sage leaf between the veal and prosciutto, or on the outside? I prefer the latter option, as it allows the sage to lend its flavor to the sauce. And I find that the sage taste is just too strong if the leaf is ‘protected’ by the prosciutto.
Variations
Like many traditional dishes, saltimbocca has a good number of variations. The oldest recipes I have found—including the recipe given by the romanissima Ada Boni and by Artusi—call for cooking the dish entirely in butter and using water, not wine, for the final deglazing. These traditional techniques are repeated in the authoritative La cucina romana e del Lazio by L. Jannattoni. The official cookbook of the Italian Academy of Cuisine, on the other hand, calls for deglazing with wine (but no final butter enrichment).
Most modern recipes, however, call for adding the wine to the pan while the veal slices continue to cook—some recipes call for just a bit, others for a generous pour. This adds flavor to the meat and, even if I usually find the original versions of traditional recipes more appealing, this is one modernism that may actually improve on the original.
A number of modern recipes also call for lightly flouring the veal slices, which aids in browning them and provides for a nice liaison for the sauce. If you do this, however, you will need to add more wine or else you will wind up with a stodgy, gooey sauce. (And that is all too often what you get when you order this dish in an “Italian” restaurant outside Italy.)
It is common to make this and other veal scallopini recipes using with other meats. Here in the US, the most common substitute is probably chicken, as in this recipe for chicken piccata. In Rome, however, chicken saltimbocca would be seen as a kind of heresy. In Italy, slices of turkey breast or pork loin are much more common.
Origins of saltimbocca
Even though saltimbocca is one of the most iconic Roman dishes you can find, it is actually rather uncharacteristic of Roman cuisine in its use of butter as a cooking medium and its final deglazing and butter enrichment—all rather ‘Frenchified’ and not very Roman. Some gastronomes, including Ana Boni, cast doubt on its Roman origins. Indeed, according to Jannattoni, Boni’s uncle Adolfo Giaquinto, in his Manuale pratico di cucina, includes an identical recipe called saltimbocca alla bresciana, or “Brescia-style” saltimbocca.
Accompaniments
Saltimbocca is usually served with a green vegetable as a contorno. Piselli alla romana, Roman-style Peas, for example, would be a fine choice.
Saltimbocca alla romana
Ingredients
For each person:
- 1-2 veal scallops see Notes
- 1-2 slices of prosciutto
- 1-2 fresh sage leaves
Plus:
- Butter q.b.
- White wine q.b.
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- You begin with slices of veal known as scallopine. Trim off any loose meat or connective tissue and pound them very thin between two sheets of wax paper (or plastic wrap), then lay a thin slice of prosciutto and a single sage leaf over each slice of veal. Skewer them all together with a wooden toothpick.
- Then heat a skillet or sauté pan large enough to hold all your veal slices comfortably until properly hot (see link below) and add a bit of olive oil and butter. When the butter melts, add your veal slices, with the prosciutto and sage side facing down, and allow it to brown for just a minute. (NB: The prosciutto will harden if it fries too long.) Then flip each over and brown on the other side, again for only a minute or so, seasoning with salt (just a bit, since the prosciutto is already salty) and pepper:
- Remove the veal slices from the pan and arranged on a warmed serving platter. Then deglaze the sucs that will have formed in the pan (assuming you’ve used stainless steel, see Notes below), remove the pan from the heat and swirl in a dab on butter until it has completely melted, and pour the resulting sauce over your veal slices and serve immediately.
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Frank, I made your version of Saltimboca last night for the second time. It is absolutely perfect! I don’t know why people try to make it so complicated (one even added cream!) when simplicity is the right answer!
That’s great to hear, David! And I couldn’t agree more that the recipe is perfect in its simplicity like so much Italian cookery. Frankly, the idea of saltimbocca with cream makes me slightly queasy…
To me this dish has always been over the top salty. Is there a way to take some of the salt hit out of the prosciutto?
Well, the usual way of desalinating food is to soak it in water. Not sure how that would work out with prosciutto but you could give it a go. I suspect it would change the character of the dish, though. Before that, you might try different kinds of prosciutto. Not all are equally salty. San Daniele, for example, is sweeter and less salty than prosciutto di Parma. And you might even try some of the excellent Spanish hams.
I considered soaking kind of like baccala but I was worried it might mess up the prosciutto.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong? I was wondering if anyone else had an over the top salty result.
Really loved this. Went very nice with Piselli alla romana, Roman-style Peas. Thanks.
Glad you liked it, Terry!
Thanks, all!
@Drick: Lucky you to be on good terms with a real butcher. I'm 'green' with envy…
@Emily: You make me blush… 🙂
@Flaherty: Flattered you tried it out, and glad you all liked it!
@John: So glad you enjoyed it!
I did run off to the butcher and make this. It was easy and oh so tasty. The sage flavor was even apparent in the sauce. Will definitely make this again.
I made this last night as a quick midweek meal (with turkey, as I can't get veal). It was excellent–simple enough for the kids, yet elegant enough for the adults. It's a new family favorite.
Oh. My. God.
Amazing. Simply amazing.
I just realized more than half of my 1,000,000 saved recipes on Foodbuzz are from you! 🙂
Thanks for that!!
I had this dish first at a restaurant called Footers in Denver CO, about 25 years ago. I have searched high and low for the recipe since then. and nothing has come close. Yours is spot on. I can't wait to give it a try! Thank you for the memory!
Loved Footers…Best Alfedo sauce also…Jimmy Lambatos owned it…Now owns Footers Catering.
I love these types of post that get into the technique nitty gritty of a dish and throw in some food history as an amuse bouche! Great job, I'm off to the butcher.
buonissimo. I'm getting hungry for some well-made saltimbocca alla romana. You gave some good tips for the preparation.
have never had saltimbocca and I would give anything for you to cook up a plate for me – I agree about the butcher, a real one is a rare bird, we happen to have several good ones in Mobile, all working in family owned companies and like a good lawyer, it's good to have one on a first name basis….
troppo bello! love this rendition, will give it a go.
what a great dish….you just don't see saltimbocca enough on menu's. What a classic dish