Italy · Mains
Saltimbocca alla romana.
Thin veal cutlets topped with prosciutto and sage, cooked in butter and finished with white wine. Ready in 20 minutes.
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The story of saltimbocca.
Saltimbocca means “jumps into the mouth”, because they are so good and so quick to make. The cutlets are not rolled: in Rome they stay flat, with a sage leaf and a slice of prosciutto pinned on top with a toothpick.
Pellegrino Artusi, the father of Italian home cooking, wrote about them in his famous cookbook after eating them at Le Venete, a trattoria in Rome, at the end of the 1800s. Some food historians think the dish was born in Brescia, in the north, but Rome adopted it, and today saltimbocca are one of the great classics of Roman trattorias.
Origin: Lazio, Italy
Where to find the ingredients in the US.
- Veal: ask for veal scaloppine or cutlets from the top round, sliced thin. Thin-sliced chicken or pork cutlets work as a non-traditional alternative.
- Prosciutto: Prosciutto di Parma or San Daniele, sliced thin, from the deli counter.
- Sage: fresh sage, sold in small packs in the herb section. Dried sage will not work here.
Three steps. That’s it.
What each stage should look like.
Step 1
Assemble.
Lay a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf on each cutlet and pin them with a toothpick.
Step 2
Cook quickly in butter.
Brown the veal side first, then just briefly on the prosciutto side.
Step 3
Finish with wine.
Add white wine and let it reduce into a light, glossy sauce.
Illustrations created with AI
Recipe
Saltimbocca alla romana.
Prep 15 min · Cook 6 min · Total 21 min
Ingredients
- veal scaloppine (8 thin slices)
- prosciutto crudo, thinly sliced
- large fresh sage leaves
- all-purpose flour, for dusting
- unsalted butter
- extra-virgin olive oil
- dry white wine
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Place the veal slices between two sheets of parchment paper and pound them gently to an even thickness of about ¼ inch (5 mm).
- Season the veal lightly with pepper and very little salt, because the prosciutto is already salty. Lay a slice of prosciutto on each cutlet, trimming it to size, put a sage leaf on top and pin it in place with a toothpick.
- Dust only the underside (the veal side) lightly with flour and shake off the excess.
- Melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When it foams, add the saltimbocca veal side down and cook for about 2 minutes, until golden.
- Turn them and cook the prosciutto side for just 30 seconds, so it stays tender. Move the saltimbocca to a warm plate.
- Pour the wine into the pan, scrape up the browned bits and let it bubble for 1–2 minutes until slightly thickened. Spoon the sauce over the saltimbocca, remove the toothpicks and serve right away.
What you’ll need.
Large skillet.
Wide enough to cook the cutlets without crowding.
Meat mallet.
For thin, even cutlets that cook in minutes.
Toothpicks.
To hold the prosciutto and sage in place.
