Monday, December 14, 2009

Saltimbocca!

Yesterday's weather was quite simply dastardly, so I decided to combat the evils of Mother Nature by having a few friends over for dinner. I'd wanted to try my hand at saltimbocca ever since Thanksgiving, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.


The recipe for saltimbocca alla Romana traditionally calls for veal, but I enjoyed the pork variation so much that I went in that direction myself. I picked up a pork tenderloin from Costco along with some sliced prosciutto and fresh sage. In general I always prefer freshly-sliced prosciutto from a deli, but when I'm cooking with it I'm less picky and I'll make do with the less expensive, pre-sliced prosciutto you can get at the grocery store (or in my case, Cotsco).

Saltimbocca Alla Clinton Hill

Ingredients:

1 whole pork tenderloin
1 lb sliced prosciutto
Fresh sage leaves - a good size bundle will do
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup dry white wine

Directions:

Slice the tenderloin into 1/2 in slices against the grain to form medallions.

Using a wooden mallet and a piece of plastic wrap, flatten the pork medallions to get them as thin as you can. This doesn't take very long, since the pork is already so tender the begin with. The plastic wrap prevents the mallet from sticking to the pork and mucking things up.

In a shallow bowl, combine the flour and pepper and quickly whisk together with a fork. Dredge each piece of pork on one side and set aside.

To make the saltimbocca, lay a slice of prosciutto onto the unfloured side of the pork. place a sage leaf or two in the middle, and then wrap the pork in half and secure with a toothpick.



Once all of the saltimbocca are ready, heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat.

When the butter is melted, arrange 4-6 saltimbocca in the pan. Cooke for 1-3 minutes per side or until lightly browned. These cook very fast because of how thin the pork is, so keep a close eye on them.


So that's it. It's an extremely simple recipe and was a huge hit. The pork, prosciutto, and sage each have very different flavors that combine so well than you'll have a hard time not eating the entire batch, and as you can see, this makes a lot of them. Saltimbocca translates to "jumps in the mouth," and the first time you try one of these, you'll immediately see why.

We served them alongside some grean beans that my friend Kate made with shallots and cayenne pepper (my red pepper flakes mysteriously disappeared) and some plain white rice as a starch.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why not support your local butchers and grocers instead of going to Costco?