Cutlets or chops of veal are pressed with oregano, garlic, and bread crumbs, then sautéed or grilled and proffered throughout the island as the fish-phobic’s Sicilian supper. One is likely to be presented with a fibrous little cutlet that makes one long to be supping somewhere else. This version, though, inspired by Osteria ai Cascinari in Palermo, begs the rubbing of a good, thick chop with a paste of herbs before giving it a quilt of crumbs mixed with pecorino and sesame seeds and, finally, a brief sauté and a splash of white wine. It makes for a fine dish, especially when accompanied with a bit of pesto di pistacchi e olive (page 193).
Recipe information
Yield
serves 2
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Finely mince together the oregano, the garlic, and the zest, making a thick paste. Rub this mixture onto both sides of the chops and leave them to rest for 1 hour at room temperature or as long as overnight, well covered in the refrigerator. Bring the chops back to room temperature before proceeding.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle the sea salt and freshly cracked pepper over both sides of the chops. Combine the bread crumbs with the pecorino and sesame seeds and press the mixture thickly onto the sides of the chops.
Step 3
Over a lively flame, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Brown the chops for at least 2 minutes, building a good firm crust before attempting to turn them. Do the same for the other side. Transfer the sauté pan to the oven and roast the chops, 2 or 3 minutes to the side. Remove the roasted chops to a holding plate and place the sauté pan over a lively flame. Add the wine, stirring and scraping at all those lovely bits of bread and cheese and seeds that will have escaped the chops, and reduce the sauce for several minutes before glazing the veal with it and presenting it straightaway.
