veal alicante

A creation based on two veal recipes from our favorite Portuguese restaurant.

Ingredients:

8 (2 ounce) pieces veal scallopini (the higher quality, the better - Provimi is best.)
A box/bag (or two) of baby spinach (5 oz (10 oz for two))
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon grey sea salt
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sage
1 cup half and half
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
4-6 slices of soppresata (or prosciutto)
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Tenderize the veal well with a meat mallet.  Rinse then chop the stems off the spinach.

2. Cook the baby spinach in a small amount of olive oil until fully wilted (add garlic / garlic powder to taste).  Sprinkle some lemon juice over the spinach then set aside.  Lightly cook soppresata in the spinach pan.

3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the scallopini with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Add scallopini to the hot, oiled skillet, and cook until golden brown on both sides, and no longer pink on the inside, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a paper towel lined plate, and keep warm.

4. Pour in lemon juice and white wine into the pan in which the veal was cooked (or a saucepan). Increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Dissolve the potato starch in about 2 tablespoons of chicken broth, and set aside. Pour the remaining chicken broth into the skillet, season with sage, garlic, pepper, salt and lemon pepper, and bring to a boil. Once the sauce is boiling, stir in the dissolved potato starch, and cook until thickened and clear, about 1 minute. Remove the sauce from the heat, then whisk in half and half.

5. On each serving plate place two scallopini pieces.  On each piece layer a wad of cooked spinach, a piece of cooked soppressata, and both mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Layer another scallopini on each stack of spinach, cheese, and meat to make sort of a small veal sandwich.  Pour the creamy lemon wine sauce over each veal sandwich and top off with fresh basil leaves and cracked pepper.