Scaloppine and Piccatas Cooking Recipe
Veal is an essential component of traditional Italian cuisine.
The best universally known recipes are for scaloppine (escalopes) and piccata. These two cuts of meat are very similar and are cut from the top of the leg or from the rump. Scaloppines are cut thinly (from ¼ in. to ½ in./5 to 10 mm), whereas piccata are cut slightly thicker and three times smaller than a scaloppine. It is common practice to beat these pieces with a meat tenderizer to flatten and tenderize them.
Scaloppine are flatter than piccatas. Generally one scaloppine or three piccatas are served per person.
Chef’s notes
Veal of good quality should be very pale and slightly pinkish in color.
It is important to cook alt the scaloppine at the same time in the skillet, otherwise, it is necessary to replace the butter each time a new piece of meat is cooked.
Although scaloppine are traditionally prepared from veal, you can also use pork, poultry (turkey or chicken), or beef.
Scaloppine with Lemon Cooking Recipe – Scaloppine Al Limone Recipe
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 veal scaloppine or 12 piccatas approximately 1 lb. (500 g) in total
- ½ cup (2 oz./50 g) flour
- ¾ stick (3 oz./80 g) butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lemon
- 1 chicken stock cube
- A few sprigs of parsley
- 4 slices of lemon
- Salt, pepper
Cooking Method
- Cover the scaloppine with plastic wrap and flatten with a tenderizer, mallet, or rolling pin (1).
- Make a few small cuts around the edges to prevent them curling up while cooking (2).
- Dip them in the flour (3) and sprinkle with a little salt.
- Heat up the butter with the oil in a skillet.
- Cook the scaloppine for 2 minutes on each side.
- Pour over the juice of the lemon (4), then remove the scaloppine from the pan.
- Replace the skillet over the heat and add a ladle of chicken stock made up from the cube (in the absence of stock, use water) to dilute the juices on the base of the pan (5).
- Add a knob of butter, the chopped parsley, and the slices of lemon.
- Return the scaloppine to the pan to finish cooking in this sauce (approximately 2 minutes).
- Spoon the sauce over the scaloppine and serve.
Chef’s note
You can serve scaloppine and piccatas with salad leaves, fries, mashed potatoes, beans, green beans, spinach, polenta, etc.
Variations
- Scaloppine with Marsala: prepare the meat as in the recipe above, but replace the lemon with Marsala and do not add parsley.
- Scaloppine with white wine: replace the Marsala with good white wine.
- Scaloppine Pavarotti with balsamic vinegar: prepare . the scaloppine as in the recipe above, but replace the stock with balsamic vinegar. Do not add lemon juice.
- Scaloppine with Gorgonzola: prepare the scaloppine as in the recipe above, but replace the lemon with grappa. Add ⅔ cup (5 oz./150 g) diced Gorgonzola at the same time as the stock. Do not use parsley.
- Scaloppine pizzaiola: heat the olive oil with a clove of chopped garlic. Add the scaloppine and color them well on both sides. Add 1 tablespoon capers and 1 tablespoon black olives. Add 14 oz. (400 g) crushed tomatoes and 1 teaspoon oregano. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 7 to 8 minutes over medium heat. Turn off the heat and place thinly sliced mozzarella on top of the scaloppine. Cover and wait until the cheese has melted slightly. Serve immediately.
