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Blog_An Italian weekday go-to: pizza-style scaloppine

Pizza-Style Scaloppine – an Italian Weekday Go-To

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In our family, making food is a hobby and a passion, not a chore. We love complex weekend cooking projects, traveling to source a rare ingredient, or entertaining 10, 20 or 30 friends over dinner. Yet sometimes, we all need an easy weekday dinner that:
• takes little to no time
• uses few pans and cooking tools
• is nutritionally balanced, and on the light side

Today’s recipe, Italian pizza-style scaloppine, checks all the boxes – without giving up on flavor.

This classic Italian dish is said to have originated in Naples, where a crafty pizzaiolo (pizza maker) decided to repurpose some leftover pizza sauce to flavor his veal. The result was surprisingly good, and in a short time, the recipe spread throughout Italy, gaining different regional variations on its way.

Chances are you already have most of the ingredients in your pantry - and if not, feel free to adjust it to your taste. In Piemonte, for example, we often start with a mix of oil and butter - but Southern Italy skips the butter. Many recipes call for browning a couple of cloves of garlic in the oil, then discarding them before adding the tomato. Some families skip the mozzarella, and add capers instead for extra saltiness. Our suggestion? Whatever you choose to add, keep it simple. Pick a few high-quality ingredients, like Italian tomatoes picked at their ripest, and enjoy!

Pizza-style scaloppine

Famiglia Ruffoni

Cuisine

Italian

Category

Main courses, Midweek meals

Pizza-style scaloppine

Ingredients

  • 8 thin slices of lean meat (beef, veal or pork – alternatively, thin sliced turkey or chicken thighs also work)

  • 4 tbsp all purpose flour

  • 1 can Mutti crushed tomatoes

  • 1 tbsp Mutti tomato paste

  • 8 oz Mozzarella cheese

  • ½ cup white wine

  • 2 tbsp EVO oil

  • 1 tbsp butter

  • 1 tsp dried oregano

  • Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Dredge your meat in flour, and season with salt and pepper.

  2. In a wide Frying Pan on low-med heat, add oil and butter and heat through until the butter melts and starts to foam.

  3. Add the meat and cook briefly until it takes on some color but is still tender and rare (about 1 minute per side).
    Make sure not to crowd the pan – if needed, work in batches until all meat slices are seared and removed from the pan!

  4. Deglaze the pan with white wine, and let alcohol evaporate for about 2 minutes.

  5. Add canned crushed tomatoes and tomato paste – season with salt, cover with a lid and let simmer gently for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (The sauce is ready when the color has changed from bright red to a deeper maroon, and it tastes savory and lightly caramelized).

  6. Flavor the sauce with oregano, add the meat back into the pan and turn it a couple of times to coat both sides with the sauce.

  7. Top each meat slice with a thin slice of mozzarella cheese, then place the pan under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbly (about 1-2 minutes).

  8. Serve immediately with a simple side of mashed or roasted potatoes, sautéed green beans or blanched leafy greens.

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Famiglia Ruffoni

Meet the author

Famiglia Ruffoni

In the Ruffoni family, cooking is the language of love.
Many of our most cherished memories are linked to cooking and eating together and, even when physically apart, we always discuss old family recipes, share newly discovered ingredients and techniques, and show off our culinary creations through texts and video calls.

In this blog we share the simple, delicious recipes of the Italian heritage – as they have been handed down through generations of Ruffoni – along with our thoughts (and rants!) on all things copper.