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Enjoy this simple dish of Veal Scallopini with Balsamic and pancetta. I happen to like veal, but I know many people don’t eat it. If you don’t enjoy veal, then you can easily substitute thin chicken breast.
The most laborious part of this dish is pounding out the scallopini. I prefer my veal thin because it cooks best quickly that way. Veal can become chewy if not cooked properly.
I modified this recipe from an old Williams Sonoma Catalog Clipping I saved about 10 years ago. The recipe called for chicken and prosciutto. I substituted with veal and Pancetta, for no reason other than it’s what I had on hand.
Before getting started with this dish have all your ingredients in place and ready to go:
- First, crisp the Pancetta in a fry pan with a slight drizzle of olive oil. While that cooks place the veal slices in between plastic wrap – leaving a little extra space on the edges for the meat to spread. With my meat mallet pound each piece, from the center outward, a few times on each side, until uniform in size and quite thin. Repeat this step for each piece.
- I use 6 pieces of scallopini in all (about 1 lb). In a bowl place flour and season with salt and pepper. When the pancetta is crisp – stack them up and crumble or chop up. Also, at this time take the sage and finely chopped that up as well. Place them both in a bowl and set aside.
- In the same fry pan, add a little more oil and lightly dredge each veal cutlet in flour on both sides, and when pan is hot cook three pieces at a time. Sear the meat on each side for about 3-4 minutes. When all the pieces are seared on both sides placed them aside in a dish.
- Then add chicken (or beef) stock, balsamic vinegar and the Pancetta and sage. Bring to a boil and then put the veal pieces back into the liquid. Turn down the heat to med/low and let simmer for an additional 7-10 minutes. Occasionally swirl the meat around in the pan to coat all the pieces with the juices. When done , plate on a tray and spoon over remaining sauce. Serve warm with a side of pasta of oil and garlic. I served this batch on top of some leftover quinoa.
Veal Balsamico
Ingredients
- 6-8 Veal Scaollopine
- 1 tablespoon chopped sage or parsley
- 1 cup of flour for dredging
- 3-4 tablespoons of oil more if needed
- 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock unsalted is best
- 2-3 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 oz of pancetta or prosciutto
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large hot fry/saute pan crisp pancetta, crumble and set aside
- Chop sage and set aside with pancetta
- Flatten and pound veal pieces with a mallet
- Place flour in a dish and season with salt and pepper
- Using same saute heat with more oil and cook 3 pieces of veal on both sides
- Sear about 3-4 minutes each side then put aside
- When all pieces are cooked add the stock, balsamic and sage to the pan
- Bring to a boil on med heat
- Return veal pieces to the pan and let simmer another 10 minutes
- Swirl the pan from time to time to keep the meat coated and flavored by the sauce
- Serve warm with extra sauce
Notes
Serve alone or with pasta,potatoes,rice,quinoa or salad
Lisa Rose-Wiles
Thursday 14th of October 2021
This is a really nice simple recipe (not sure why it has no reviews). It's great with prosciutto but bacon will do if you don't have it or pancetta, and I happen to have plenty of fresh sage so I was happy to use some of it. I also added a splash of lemon juice and some capers, and served over broad egg noodles. I'd just make a note to use good quality balsamic, it's the main sauce flavor so don't stint on that (I actually used a bit more). Thanks for the recipe.
Robert Elliott
Sunday 28th of July 2024
Did you deglaze your pan with wine to add to your sauce?
Tina DiLeo
Sunday 7th of November 2021
Thanks for sharing such great suggestions! I think I need to try that.