crspy, fragrant, garlicky pork cutlets
BREADED PORK CUTLETS . I could become vegetarian any moment of my life save for a few things which I passionately like. My mom’s involtini , a good slice of prosciutto and our family’s cotolette served with plenty crisp salad and bright lemon wedges. The recipe is obviously an adaptation of the world famous veal cutlets – cotolette alla Milanese -. I use thinly sliced meat and fragrant garlicky bread crumbs which in my house is like gold dust, it will improve anything.
Recipe
- 400 gr pork cutlets thinly sliced
- 1 egg
- 1 cup garlicky breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil for deep frying
Gently pound cutlets to 1/8-inch (about 3 mm) thickness. Spread bread crumbs on a large shallow dish or tray. Lightly beat the egg in another shallow bowl. Dip cutlets in egg then dredge in bread crumbs. It is important to obtain a quite dense and even coating of bread crumbs. For this, after dredging, press slices with your hand against a cutting board dredging twice if necessary. Arrange on a separate dish.
Heat 2.5 cm/1 inch vegetable oil in a skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then fry the cotolette, turning over once, until golden, about 2-3 minutes. Dry briefly onto paper towels, then transfer to a serving dish.
As the meat is thin and the cutlets quite crisp, they can be served cold -but not refrigerated- as party finger food. Just prepare them a couple of hours in advance and tear them into bite size chunks. Serves 3-4
10 Comments
July 9, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Wow, Letizia, that looks fantastic! I love your description of garlic bread crumbs being like gold dust — I feel that way about pecorino!
I’m desperately seeking a recipe for a vegetable dish that I suppose is like caponata, but served cold with perhaps larger pieces of vegetable so it’s not spreadable but more like a stew. Any advice?
July 10, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Ciao Sandra! I am not sure about your vegetable dish, if you could find out the name that would help. However I do a roasted mixed vegetable dish as follow: on a large roasting tin lined with parchment paper I roast vegetables each one in a separate mound. Zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, blanched potatoes, wedges of eggplant, quartered onions. When cooked and slightly caramelized I season, add some garlic, basil and let it cool off. It’s rather wonderful and easy.
July 10, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Ciao, Letizia, that sounds fantastic! And pretty much what I had in mind. Each vegetable keeps its shape and flavour, but they mix together well.
Would you add a bit of olive oil to the mix as well?
July 10, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Hi again! Yes, you are right, I toss each “group ” pf vegetable in olive oil before roasting, just to coat. generally there is no need to add additional at the end, but do decide depending on taste. I also season after cooking so vegetables do not get soggy. I removed the cooked ones as they are ready. Zucchini and tomatoes generally first. Then I put them back to infuse with the garlic and basil . May be I should do a blog post on this. My mom used to call this recipe “bandiera” meaning “flag” because of the multicolor aspect of the dish. Let me know how it works.
July 15, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Letizia, the vegetables worked out beautifully (so beautifully that I ate about 4 servings in 2 days!)
I didn’t have any garlic, and used only a little good olive oil, and they were fantastic!
July 15, 2009 at 8:41 pm
de-li-gh-ted ! The roasted vegetables is a sort of modern take on a recipe of my mom and I love it. Many years ago I was alone in a field station in Zimbabwe. I had a few veggies and a wood stove and I made it there and had it under the African stars, unforgettable!
August 16, 2009 at 10:48 am
That looks gorgeous! I love garlicky anything. And the roasted veggies also sound good – will try making them when I get back from my holiday.
August 16, 2009 at 11:34 am
Yes, you can make them bite size and serve them as tapas too! They are good even if cold (not refrigerated)
August 16, 2009 at 11:40 am
Bacon is another reason I couldn’t be a vegetarian. The smell of bacon & garlic frying in olive oil is pure heaven!
August 16, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I have the same for prosciutto, a thin slice of the properly aged stuff on fresh crusty white bread takes down all resistance!