Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [173]
6. Cut the cheese into the thinnest slices you can. Do not worry if the slices are irregular in shape, they will fuse into one when the cheese melts. Cover the layer of asparagus with one of cheese slices.
7. Pour off and discard all the fat from the pan in which you browned the veal, but do not wipe the pan clean. Add to it any juices that the scaloppine may have shed on the plate and the Marsala. Turn on the heat to medium high, and scrape loose with a wooden spoon the browning residues on the bottom and sides, while reducing the juices in the pan to about 3 tablespoons.
8. Spoon the juices over the layer of cheese, distributing them evenly. Dot lightly with butter. Take a sheet of parchment or foil large enough to extend past the edge of the baking dish and lay it flat over the scaloppine. Bring together the edges of the lower sheet of parchment or foil and those of the upper sheet, crimping them to make a tight seal. Put the baking dish on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven and leave it in for 15 minutes, just long enough for the cheese to melt.
9. Take the dish out of the oven, and open the parchment or foil wrap, taking care to direct the outrushing steam away from you so as not to be scalded by it. Cut away the parchment or foil all around the dish and serve as is or gently lift the scaloppine out using a broad metal spatula, and transfer them to a warm serving platter without turning them over. Spoon the juices in the baking dish over them, and serve at once.
Messicani—Stuffed Veal Rolls with Ham, Parmesan, Nutmeg, and White Wine
For 4 servings
⅓ cup crumb, the soft, crustless part of bread, preferably from good Italian or French bread
⅓ cup milk
2 ounces boiled unsmoked ham, chopped fine
2 ounces pork, ground or chopped fine
1 egg
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Whole nutmeg
1 pound veal scaloppine, cut from the top round, and flattened as described
Sturdy round toothpicks
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Flour, spread on a plate
⅓ cup dry white wine
½ cup Basic Homemade Meat Broth, prepared as directed, OR ½ bouillon cube dissolved in ½ cup water
1. Put the crumb and milk in a small bowl. When the bread has soaked up the milk, mash it to a creamy consistency with a fork, and pour off all excess milk.
2. Add the chopped ham, pork, egg, grated Parmesan, salt, pepper, a tiny grating of nutmeg—about ⅓ teaspoon—and the bread and milk mush, and mix with a fork until all ingredients are evenly combined. Turn the mixture out on a work surface and divide into as many parts as you have scaloppine.
3. Lay the scaloppine flat on a work surface. Coat each with one of the parts of the stuffing mixture, spreading it evenly over the meat. Roll the meat up into a sausage-like roll, and fasten it with a toothpick inserted lengthwise to allow the roll to be turned easily later when cooking.
4. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the veal rolls in a single layer, put in the butter and oil, and turn on the heat to medium high. Dredge the rolls in flour all over, and when the butter foam subsides, slip them into the pan.
5. Brown the meat deeply all over, then add the wine. When the wine has bubbled away for a minute or so, sprinkle with salt, put in the broth, cover the pan, and turn the heat down to cook at a gentle simmer.
6. When the veal rolls have cooked all the way through, in about 20 minutes, transfer them to a warm platter. If the juices in the pan are thin and runny, turn the heat up to high and reduce them, while scraping loose with a wooden spoon cooking residues from the bottom and sides of the pan. If on the other hand, they are too thick and partly stuck to the pan, add 1 or 2 tablespoons water, and while the water boils away, scrape loose all cooking residues. Pour the pan juices over the veal rolls, and serve at once.
Veal Rolls with Pancetta and Parmesan
For 4 servings
1 pound veal scaloppine, cut from the top round,