I had some organic (probably even biodynamic) veal skirt in the trusty chest freezer (I’ve told you how much I love my chest freezer haven’t I?) I’m not sure why I ordered it, not being familiar with cooking skirt, but I did; rolled up in neat little sausages. The veal is raised with its mother, happy and free and weaned when least stress will be caused to both cow and calf... happy veal = guilt free veal... So I decided to try making veal involtini with it.
There were 2 strips in the packet which I quartered and then got all medieval on them by bashing them out with a meat mallet until they were thin and dimpled. They began to look suspiciously like what you buy at the butcher as a veal scaloppini for premium prices...
I lay across a piece of prosciutto, some basil from the garden, bocconcini and lots of pepper and salt, rolled them up and secured with a toothpick. Then I seared them on a high heat quickly so they didn’t toughen up. I don’t think I should have worried; they were mouth-wateringly tender and oozing with the cheese, yum.
I served with a salad of charred radicchio, pine nut, garlic & sour cherry balsamic vinegar dressing and some polenta chips with gorgonzola dipping sauce... true, it took me over an hour but better than sitting on my duff in front of the TV and it was all very delicious.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the Italians have probably been using veal skirt for this kind of thing all along and the tender thin cuts you buy at the butcher are a bit of a con (or at least skirt they have bashed out for you)...
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