"Italian-American food--what cuisine is it?" asks Lidia Matticchio Bastianich in Lidia's Italian-American Cooking, a cookbook based on her eponymous PBS TV series. The author of two previous works, La Cucina di Lidia and Lidia's Italian Table, and co-owner of three acclaimed Manhattan restaurants, Bastianich is ideally suited to explore all Italian fare. "Americans fell in love with Italian cooking first," she says, thus enshrining a cuisine
Taleggio is a cow's-milk cheese with a complex flavor and, when mature, a runny texture. If you can, prepare these chops with a younger, firmer Taleggio. If the Taleggio you're using for these chops is too soft to slice, simply stir the cheese and broccoli together to blend, then stuff the chops with this mixture.
Makes 4 servings
1 scant cup broccoli florets, in pieces no larger than 1/2 inch
Salt
1 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
5 ounces Taleggio cheese, sliced thin
4 thin slices (about 2 ounces) imported Italian prosciutto
4 bone-in veal rib chops, each about 10 ounces and 1 inch
thick
Freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 fresh sage leaves
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 1/3 cups chicken stock or canned reduced-sodium chicken broth
Cook the broccoli florets in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender but still bright green, about 4 minutes. Drain the broccoli and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain thoroughly.
Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill fitted with the fine disc, or blend them in a food processor or blender, using quick on/off pulses just until smooth. (Overblending the tomatoes will incorporate air into them and turn them pink.)
Make 4 more or less even stacks with the cheese slices and cover each with a folded slice of prosciutto. Lay the broccoli florets along one edge of each stack, dividing the florets evenly. Roll the cheese and prosciutto around the broccoli into neat and compact rolls. Set the rolls aside.
Lay a veal chop flat on a cutting board. Following the illustrations below, make a horizontal cut through the meat all the way to the bone and open the chop up, butterflying it. With the smooth side of a meat mallet, gently pound each side until the veal is about 3/8 inch thick. Place a cheese roll over one side of the butterflied veal chop, close to the bone. Fold the other side of the chop over the filling to completely enclose the filling. Pound around the edges of the stuffed chop with the toothed side of the meat mallet to seal in the stuffing. For an extra measure of security, you may fasten the edges of the stuffed chop with a toothpick. Press the stuffed chops gently to flatten them slightly. Repeat with the remaining chops and cheese rolls. Season the stuffed chops with salt and pepper, then dredge them in flour to coat all sides lightly.
Heat the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat until the butter is light brown. Add the chops to the pan and cook until the underside is golden, about 4 minutes. (If your skillet isn't large enough to accommodate all four chops, divide the chops and sauce ingredients between two skillets.) Turn the chops, scatter the sage leaves around them and cook until the second side is golden, about 3 minutes. Remove the chops from the pan and drain the fat, reserving the sage leaves.
Return the chops to the pan, pour in the wine and add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, bring to a boil, then pour in the stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat so the sauce is simmering and cook, covered, until no trace of pink remains near the bone and the sauce is syrupy, about 12 minutes. Turn the chops and baste them with the sauce several times as they simmer.
The chops can also be finished in the oven: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. After adding stock to the pan, set the uncovered pan in a hot oven and bake, basting periodically for 15 minutes.
Transfer the chops to warm plates and spoon some of the sauce over each. For a clearer sauce, strain it as you spoon it over the chops.
Variation
Veal Chops Stuffed with Asparagus and Fontina Snap off the tough ends of four thin asparagus spears. Peel the stalk up to the tips and cut them into 1-inch lengths, leaving the tips intact. Cook the asparagus pieces in a small saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain the asparagus and plunge it into a bowl of cold water. Let stand until chilled. Drain the asparagus thoroughly. Prepare the veal chops as described above, substituting Fontina for the Taleggio and the cooked asparagus for the broccoli.
