Saltimbocca
Saltimbocca alla romana means "jumps in the mouth", and the name tells you everything about the pace: each escalope fries in under four minutes. Veal pounded thin, sage and ham pinned with a cocktail stick — and the sauce comes together in the same pan in a minute.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Pounding the meat 10 min
- Assembling 6 min
- Frying 8 min
- Butter sauce 5 min
Step by step
0 / 6 donePound the veal thin
Lay each slice between two sheets of film and pound to 4–5 mm with a mallet. Work from the centre outwards with the flat side — the point is to flatten, not to tear the fibres.
Ingredients: 600 g veal · 8 pcs prosciutto · 8 pcs sage · ½ tsp pepper · 40 g plain flour
TipThin meat cooks in two minutes and stays juicy. Thicker escalopes dry out before the ham crisps.
Even thickness throughout — otherwise the edges dry out.Assemble with ham and sage
Season the meat with pepper — no salt, the ham is salty enough. Lay a sage leaf and a slice of prosciutto on each escalope and pin them with a cocktail stick.
Ingredients: 600 g veal · 8 pcs prosciutto · 8 pcs sage · ½ tsp pepper · 40 g plain flour
The stick holds the layers together in the pan.Dust with flour
Dust the escalopes with flour on the meat side only and shake off the excess. The flour sets into a crust and later thickens the sauce. The ham side must stay dry.
Ingredients: 600 g veal · 8 pcs prosciutto · 8 pcs sage · ½ tsp pepper · 40 g plain flour
Fry ham side down
Heat the oil with half the butter and fry the escalopes in two batches: ham side down for 2 minutes until it crisps and shrinks, then turn and cook 90 seconds; about 8 minutes in all. Lift onto a warm plate.
Ingredients: 60 g butter · 2 tbsp olive oil · 150 ml white wine · ½ pcs lemon · ¼ tsp salt
TipDo not crowd the pan: crowded meat stews in its own juices instead of frying.
Prosciutto crisps up on a hot pan.Make the sauce in the same pan
Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Boil hard for 2 minutes until reduced by half, take off the heat and swirl in the remaining cold butter and the lemon juice. Taste and add a pinch of salt if needed.
Ingredients: 60 g butter · 2 tbsp olive oil · 150 ml white wine · ½ pcs lemon · ¼ tsp salt
TipAdd the butter off the heat, piece by piece. Boiled, it splits into fat and water.
Serve at once
Remove the sticks, arrange the escalopes on plates and pour over the sauce. Saltimbocca is served immediately — after five minutes the ham goes damp and loses its crispness.
Ingredients: 60 g butter · 2 tbsp olive oil · 150 ml white wine · ½ pcs lemon · ¼ tsp salt
Before you start
Instead of veal
Chicken breast or pork loin pounded equally thin work very well. The frying time is similar; chicken must be cooked right through, with no pink in the centre.
Dried sage will not do
You need whole fresh leaves that crisp in the pan. Dried sage won't crisp and easily swamps the dish with bitterness.
What to serve with it
Classically with roast potatoes or buttered spinach. The sauce is assertive, so the side should be simple.
