Saltimbocca alla Romana
Veal escalopes under a sage leaf and a slice of prosciutto, pan-fried and finished with a white wine butter sauce. Twelve minutes, and the name means "jumps in the mouth".
Photograph credit: Saltimbocca-2 by Joachim Pietzowski · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Make Ahead and Storage
Best immediately. Keeps 2 days; reheat gently in a pan with a spoonful of stock rather than a microwave.
Photograph credit: Saltimbocca at French restaurant in Tokyo by Syced · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
How to Make Saltimbocca alla Romana
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Lay each escalope flat, season lightly, and place two sage leaves on top, then a slice of prosciutto. Press down firmly, or secure with a cocktail stick.
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Dust only the veal side with flour, tapping off the excess. Leave the prosciutto bare so it crisps.
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Heat the olive oil and half the butter in a wide pan over medium-high until foaming.
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Lay the escalopes prosciutto-side down and cook for 2 minutes, pressing gently, until the ham is crisp and the sage has darkened.
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Turn and cook the veal side for 90 seconds only, then transfer to a warm plate.
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Pour the wine into the pan and scrape up everything stuck to the base. Reduce by half over high heat, about 2 minutes.
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Take off the heat and swirl in the remaining cold butter until the sauce turns glossy.
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Spoon over the escalopes and serve immediately with lemon.
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Worth Knowing
- Do not flour the prosciutto side; flour steams under the ham and stops it crisping.
- Pounded chicken or turkey escalopes work well if veal is hard to find.
- Everything happens in under five minutes, so have the wine measured before you start.
Some Background
Cooking prosciutto-side down first crisps the ham and renders its fat into the pan, which then flavours the sauce. The veal is cooked barely two minutes a side because escalopes pounded this thin go from tender to grey in seconds.
What to Put Next to It
A Frascati or a light Sangiovese · Serve with sautéed spinach or roast potatoes · Finish with panna cotta
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Tuscan Panzanella, Ciabatta, Fave e Cicoria.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.
The Numbers per Serving
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). 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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