Artichokes work very well with veal, and these veal rollups stuffed with artichokes are one of our standard winter dishes.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- A half a small onion, and slightly lesser volumes of carrot and celery, minced with a small bunch of parsley
- Eight thinly sliced veal cutlets four to five inches long and three wide, about 1 1/4 pounds (500 g) in all
- Four mid-sized artichokes, with their stems
- A bowl of acidulated water (lemon juice will do fine)
- Tooth picks
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- A tablespoon of tomato paste
- Hot broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Remove the stems from the artichokes, peel them, julienne their hearts, and set the pieces to soak in the water. Trim the tops of the artichokes and discard the tough outer leaves (the artichokes will decrease dramatically in size by the time you reach the succulent, light colored inner leaves). Quarter them, removing any fluff you may find in the hearts, sliver them, and set them to soak too.
Lightly pound the cutlets with the flat of a knife to tenderize them and spread them out. Put some artichoke in the center of each and roll it up, using toothpicks to hold the rolls together.
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan, and sauté the onion mixture until the onion has barely browned, then add the cutlets and cook, turning them frequently, till they've browned. Sprinkle the wine into the pan and cook till it has almost completely evaporated, then stir in the tomato paste and a ladle of broth. Season to taste, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, until the meat is quite tender, adding more broth if need be to keep the dish from drying out.
Tuscans frequently serve this with spinaci rifatti (recooked spinach), spooning some of the meat sauce over the spinach. You can also, if you wish, add a half-pound of ground beef to the pan when you add the cutlets. If you do, double the tomato paste. Spoon most of the sauce over pasta (a pound, for four people; serve it with grated Parmigiano), and serve the cutlets as a second course, with a vegetable.
Serves four. A wine? I find artichokes and red wines to clash, and would thus go with a hearty white, for example a Sauvignon Blanc from Friuli's Collio.
Lightly pound the cutlets with the flat of a knife to tenderize them and spread them out. Put some artichoke in the center of each and roll it up, using toothpicks to hold the rolls together.
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan, and sauté the onion mixture until the onion has barely browned, then add the cutlets and cook, turning them frequently, till they've browned. Sprinkle the wine into the pan and cook till it has almost completely evaporated, then stir in the tomato paste and a ladle of broth. Season to taste, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, until the meat is quite tender, adding more broth if need be to keep the dish from drying out.
Tuscans frequently serve this with spinaci rifatti (recooked spinach), spooning some of the meat sauce over the spinach. You can also, if you wish, add a half-pound of ground beef to the pan when you add the cutlets. If you do, double the tomato paste. Spoon most of the sauce over pasta (a pound, for four people; serve it with grated Parmigiano), and serve the cutlets as a second course, with a vegetable.
Serves four. A wine? I find artichokes and red wines to clash, and would thus go with a hearty white, for example a Sauvignon Blanc from Friuli's Collio.
