Veal piccata is a dish made with thinly sliced veal sautéed in a butter and lemon sauce with capers, often served with pasta or potatoes. The meat is tenderized, seasoned, and pan-seared before being simmered in the sauce. Chicken can be used as a substitute.
Veal piccata is an Italian dish consisting of a thinly sliced cut of veal sautéed in a butter and lemon sauce with capers. White wine, shallots, and garlic are other common ingredients in veal piccata. The dish is often accompanied by pasta, potatoes, polenta or rice.
The word piccata means “lard” or “tasty and spicy”, depending on the source. Larding is a cooking technique in which flakes of fat are injected into a cut of meat to make it more tender and full of flavour. While veal piccata was supposedly first prepared this way, most recipes now use a thin slice of meat lightly breaded and fried in butter.
Veal, the centerpiece of veal piccata, is the meat of a calf, or young cattle, usually slaughtered between four and six months after birth. Veal is very tender, delicately flavored, and lighter in color than mature beef, ranging from ivory to deep pink depending on the diet and age of the veal. Piccata is also commonly made with chicken rather than veal, a more politically correct choice for those who oppose eating the meat of an immature animal.
The leanness of the meat is essential for veal piccata, so the veal is often mashed with a meat tenderizer before cooking. The veal is seasoned with salt and pepper, dredged or floured, then pan-seared in butter or olive oil. Sauces are used to make piccata sauce. Ingredients such as white wine, capers, shallots and lemon are stirred into the pan and reduced or cooked. Butter is added to the sauce before serving. The veal is simmered in the pan with the sauce or in the oven while the sauce is being prepared.
Veal piccata is delicious and simple to prepare. The saltiness of the capers, the acidity of the lemon and the richness of the butter balance each other well and complement the lightness of the veal. Capers can be too salty for some palates, so rinsing them before adding them to the sauce is recommended.
Veal piccata is a dish that lends itself to substitutions and creativity, due to its simplicity. There are many different recipes available for veal and chicken piccata. Many include additional ingredients like parsley and paprika. It is essential to use real butter and not margarine for the sauce to have the correct texture.
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