Saltimbocca

Saltimbocca is an Italian dish. The word itself literally translates to 'jumps in the mouth'... which I am more than happy for it to do so as it tastes incredible. I discovered Saltimbocca whilst living in France and have been to the same restaurant over and over again to have it. 

The bad news is that I will soon be moving back to England, so once again I have been forced into recreating a restaurant dish before it's too late. Obviously, this meant going back to my favourite restaurants purely for research purposes several times and, thanks to this, I have created my own version of Saltimbocca. So I can return home happy, knowing I can still eat this yummy dish.

Saltimbocca, or at least my version of it, is pretty much veal escalopes, bacon and a creamy sauce. I have never bought veal in England, but here in France it's one of the cheaper meats. However, if veal in England is super expensive then this sauce would definitely work with chicken or pork. 

I think Saltimbocca is best served with spaghetti as the creamy sauce coats the pasta and the result is delicious. It also means that cooking and preparation time is kept nice and low meaning the whole meal is relatively low maintenance.

SALTIMBOCCA

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Difficulty
 Easy

Timing
Preparation: 5 minutes
Cooking: 30 Minutes

Serves: 4 

RECIPE

• 4 veal escalopes
• 8 sage leaves
• 4 bacon rashers
• plain flour
• 50g butter
• 1 clove garlic ~ crushed
• 130ml dry white wine
• 5 tablespoons double cream

SERVE WITH...

• 350g-400g spaghetti (depending on how hungry you are!)

METHOD

1. Place the veal escalopes on a flat surface and pound until they are about 4mm thick. * The easiest way to do this is to place your veal between pieces of cling film and then pound it... If you don't have one of those fancy meat pounders, grab a rolling pin and use that instead. 
2. Place 2 sage leaves on each escalope and then place a piece of bacon on top. Make sure you press the bacon down so that it remains 'stuck on' during the cooking process. * I usually cut a bacon rasher in half so that it covers the whole side of the escalope.
3. Next, combine flour, salt and pepper on a flat plate. Take each escalope and lightly coat each one with the flour mixture.
4. Melt half the butter in a pan and heat until it begins to foam. Add the garlic to the butter and then place your first two escalopes in the pan. Cook the veal for 2 minutes on each side. * Veal cooks like beef, so it is fine if it is still a little pink in the middle.
5. Meanwhile, put on the water for the spaghetti.
6. Lift the first two escalopes out and place to one side * keep them warm!
7. Add the remaining butter and garlic to the pan and cook the second batch of escalopes. As before, cook each escalope for 2 minutes on each side. 
8. Meanwhile, your pasta water should be boiling, so start cooking the spaghetti.
9. Lift the second two escalopes out and put to one side with the first batch. 
10. Pour the wine into the empty pan and leave to reduce to about 2 tablespoons. * Make sure you do this step properly otherwise the sauce will taste wrong. You need to make sure all the alcohol is burned off.
11. When you have reduced the wine, add the cream and cook on a low heat for a couple of minutes. Taste and season. 
12. Drain your pasta and add some butter to stop it sticking together.
13. Serve the veal on top of the spaghetti and pour the creamy sauce on top.

I hope you enjoy this dish and once again sorry for the lack of photos. The one I have recently added is not the best but it gives you an idea of the meal. Despite the lack of any proper photos just remember that the main ingredients are bacon, cream, wine and pasta... so you know its going to taste good!! 

Good luck and have fun!
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