The most common recipes are probably Scaloppine al Marsala, made with Sicily's renowned fortified white wine, Scaloppine al Vino Binaco, made with white wine, and Scaloppine al Limone, made with lemon juice. However, there are also many variations on the theme.
Before we get to them, a few words of advice:
- To insure tender scaloppine, you will want slices of veal about 1/4 inch thick (1/2 cm) thick. Thinner scaloppine will dry out and toughen as they cook. Thicker scaloppine will instead require a longer cooking time and become chewy.
- To keep scaloppine from curling in the pan, make 3 to 4 equally spaced nicks in the edges of the slices, and remove bits of gristle that will shrink as the meat cooks.
- To keep the drippings (which become the sauce) from becoming lumpy, after flouring the scaloppine shake off all excess flour.
- Scaloppine dishes need not be made with veal: You can also use butterflied chicken breast halves, slices of turkey breast, sliced lamb (from the shoulder), sliced boned pork loin, swordfish, tuna, salmon, and sole.
Scaloppine al Marsala: Every trattoria in Rome offers veal or chicken scallops cooked in a Marsala sauce. The recipe is Jewish in origin, but has spread throughout the land. Should you not have Marsala, dry white wine will work, and if you would rather omit wine entirely, lemon juice makes a fine substitute.
Scaloppine al Pecorino Toscano: This is a very easy veal scaloppine recipe with cheese, and tasty too. Were I to decide to vary it the most I'd add is a dash of lemon juice.
Veal Scaloppine Primavera: Primavera sauce is incredibly variable; some people like some vegetables, and some vegetables do better in one vegetable patch as opposed to another, so no two recipes are alike, though they all do share the freshness of spring. This sauce will work quite nicely over scaloppine, and preparing a tasty meal with it will take minutes.
Scaloppine alla Mediterranea: This is a simple, zesty dish that obviously draws from the Neapolitan carne alla pizzaiola (see below), though it is a little quicker to do and also has peppers.
Carne alla Pizzaiola: No collection of cutlet and scaloppine recipes would be complete without Carne alla pizzaiola: "It's so humble and so simple it has no history -- nobody knows who invented it or when, though the name suggests its cradle may have been a pizza oven, and its father the pizzaiolo. But does it matter? Let's just enjoy it as it deserves (Caròla Francesconi, La Cucina Napoletana, p. 433)." .
Scaloppine Arance e Acciughe: Oranges work quite nicely with veal scallops, and the anchovies add a pleasant salty accent but nothing fishy.
Scaloppine con Pinolie e Uvetta: The combination of raisins and pine nuts is one of the fixtures of south Italian cooking, and they work very well with veal scallops.
Scaloppine con le Olive: Olives, tomatoes andmore make for a simple, zesty addition to a pan of veal scallops.
Scaloppine al Fumè: Fumè means smoked, and these veal scallops have a more woodland feel, with bacon and scamorza affumicata, a smoked Italian cheese which is firm enough to slice, and that melts quite well. In its absence, use another mild flavored, moderately smoked cheese.
