Veal Rolls with Pancetta and Parmesean
This was a very interesting recipe for me. I had never cooked veal before!
I first had to pound out the pieces to a proper thinness. Marcella wants the pieces to be about 5 inches by 4 inches and after cutting each piece in half they were pretty close.
Here are the before and after photos of the veal pounding process:
Before:
after:
Each piece is covered with a thin slice of pancetta and grated parmesan cheese:
And then rolled up:
They are browned “deeply” in a combination of oil and butter:
Then the pan is deglazed with wine and tomatoes are added, to make a fantastic sauce.
We absolutely LOVED the result! I reminded me of veal rolls I ate at Osteria Orto dei Mori, in Venice, which were one of my favorite things I ate on that whole trip.
Not having cooked veal (or any beef, for that matter) I was really surprised at how rich the sauce was with the simple addition of a little butter and the ingredients remaining in the pan (fond, wine, tomatoes).
Would I ever make this again? YES! It’s a beautiful special occasion dish.
At the risk of offending Marcella — do you think this would work with turkey cutlets? Or pork loin? I know it wouldn’t be the same, but I suspect the flavors and technique would translate nicely.
Jan, this looks great! I liked your before and after photos as well.
As you might know, Victor (Marcella’s husband) doesn’t enjoy fowl; however, her son Giuliano says it possibly could be done with pork.
Deborah responds:
Thanks, Lael, for posting on our blog! Yes, I was also thinking that pork might be a good substitute meat in this dish. Of course, there isn’t much that DOESN’T taste great when pork is the protein, is there?
I think it could work with turkey “scallopine” but the flavor from the veal is much more intense, I’m sure. Pork? I just might try it.
A lovely job, Jan. Even an Italian cook might use turkey, if she is on a tight budget, but at a serious loss of flavor. Good, natural pork, not the dessicated super lean common supermarket variety, would be a better choice than veal. I have even substituted pork for veal in such recipes as vitello tonnato. Some restaurants even do it without telling you.