
Isn’t everything better with an egg? Most things, anyway. An egg is an instant easy sauce. That rich yolk, which must be runny, and a variety of things to go with it, some of which must be crisp and dippable. And a runny egg yolk is the perfect thing to have with some lovely saltimbocca.
One of the farmers at my local farmers market sells terrific meat. The prices are excellent, the minced meats have plenty of fat (and therefore lots of flavour and moisture) and there are always interesting cuts. He also always has veal, minced and in thin escalopes. Saltimbocca alla Romana had been on my mind, and when reminded of it via an instagram post from the wonderful Rachel Roddy, I decided that it had to be done.
Saltimbocca is one of those lovely trinities: veal, fresh sage and cured ham. I felt it would be perfection for brunch with an egg (and I was right). It is sometimes dusted with flour before cooking, and often fried in butter. This starts a sauce and coats the veal, which is then finished with a gorgeous swirl of marsala. This time I didn’t use any flour (in a post on satimbocca on Rachel’s blog she had said that her friend did not use flour), I fried the saltimbocca in oil instead and I finished the dish with madeira instead of marsala, as it is what I had. The results were terrific, the dish was both light and rich and perfection on a slice of crisp toast, drizzled with the sauce and topped with a runny egg. I can never get enough sage so I crisped some in oil to serve on top as well as within the saltimbocca.
Another great thing is just how speedy this is too, it tastes of more time and longer cooking. Perfect for your Easter bank holiday weekend? I think so!
The recipe follows below.
Other brunch recipes on Eat Like a Girl
Ingredients
- *per person
- veal escalope, about the size of your toast
- 1 slice of parma ham, enough to cover the veal
- 2 sage leaves (as large as is on your bunch of sage) plus extra for serving
- fresh ground pepper
- madeira or marsala, about half a glass
- one slice of good bread
- one egg
- butter or neutral oil like rapeseed for frying
Instructions
Hi Niamh. I wanted to know if I can replace the butter to olive oil? Thank you
I only used olive oil in this! Butter is optional. All explained before the recipe :) Enjoy!