Cachopo
Two thin veal or beef escalopes sandwiching ham and cheese, coated in breadcrumbs and cooked until crisp, the huge speciality of Asturias.
Photograph credit: Cachopo, KANTXA Bera-Bera 01 (image of Cachopo on Wikidata Q5738670) by Kent Wang · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Storing and Planning Ahead
Best eaten straight away.
Making Cachopo
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Season one escalope with half the salt and pepper. Lay the ham and cheese slices over it, leaving a 1 cm border. Cover with the second escalope and press the edges together.
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Coat in the flour, then the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs, pressing the crumbs on firmly. Chill for 15 minutes.
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Heat the oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the cachopo for 5 minutes on each side until deep golden and the cheese has melted.
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Drain on kitchen paper, rest for 2 minutes and cut into wedges. Serve with the lemon.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Worth Knowing
- Flatten the meat evenly.
- Keep the heat at medium so the filling heats through.
- Serve with chips and fried green peppers.
Behind the Recipe
In Asturias, a cachopo is designed to be shared, and it is almost impossible to finish alone. Two big escalopes of veal or beef, pounded thin, are laid around slices of serrano ham and cheese, then breaded and fried until crisp. The result is something between a schnitzel, a cordon bleu and a challenge, and it arrives at the table the size of a plate.
The meat is critical. Ask the butcher for two 150 g slices of veal or beef topside, cut thin, and flatten them between sheets of cling film with a rolling pin until they are about 4 mm. If the meat tears, patch it; the filling will hold it together.
Lay one slice on a board, season it, and cover with two slices of ham and two slices of a melting cheese such as Cabrales for a strong flavour or Emmental for a mild one. Top with the second slice and press the edges together, using a toothpick if needed to hold them shut.
Coat in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs, pressing hard, and chill for 15 minutes. Fry in 1 cm of hot oil for 5 minutes on each side, until golden, and drain. Serve with chips and green peppers.
Serving Ideas
Chips · Padrón peppers · Asturian cider · Green salad
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Patatas a lo Pobre, Pisto, Escalivada.
Quick Answers
How long does Cachopo take to make?
25 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking, plus 15 minutes of chilling, so allow 1 hour from start to finish. The recipe serves 3.
What's in a Serving
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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