Veal parmigiana is a dish originating from southern Italy, consisting of thin veal fried and covered in tomato sauce and cheese, often served with pasta or as a sandwich. The veal must be pounded thin and can be breaded before frying. It is then baked with tomato sauce and cheese until cooked through.
Veal parmigiana is a dish made in a style of cooking originating in southern Italy. It consists of a slice of veal that has been cut or pounded thin and fried in a pan, after which it is covered in a tomato and cheese sauce and baked in the oven until cooked through. A more popular version of veal parmigiana outside Italy involves coating the veal in flour or meal and breadcrumbs before it’s fried to help create a crispier coating. The full dish can be served on its own, with a small mound of pasta, or made into a sandwich on a roll or Italian bread.
The veal must first be made thin, if you want to make veal parmigiana. If the cut isn’t thin enough, then it can first be cut through the center on the thin edge, but not all the way through, then the schnitzel opens like a book. The meat is then placed between two pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper and pounded gently with a heavy, blunt object so that it becomes a single uniform thickness all the way through. It’s important to hammer from the center of the meat out to the edges to avoid tearing the meat into pieces.
While the original veal parmigiana recipes didn’t call for breading the meat, most of the popular modern versions do. Lightly dusting the veal with flour on both sides is the easiest way to help develop a scab. A full coat, however, requires dipping the veal in flour and then a liquid such as egg, milk, or water before placing the soaked meat in a breadcrumb mixture. The breadcrumbs can be flavored with Italian herbs or mixed with Parmesan or Romano.
The cutlets for the veal parmigiana are placed in a pan with boiling oil and left to brown on each side. The goal isn’t necessarily to cook the meat all the way through, but rather to brown the outside and form a crust. Some healthier recipes place the veal on a roasting pan and then cook it in a hot oven, relying on the dry heat to crisp up the outside.
The last step in preparing the veal parmigiana is to place the veal in an ovenproof dish and cover it with tomato sauce. The exact type and amount varies by taste. Cheese is placed on top of tomato sauce, especially on top of cutlets. Mozzarella is seen most often, although any other type that will melt can be used. The dish is placed in an oven and cooked until the veal is done cooking, the sauce is hot, and the cheese has melted.
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