Veal Parmigiana

A friend asked me to put this up on my blog. I had never actually made veal parmigiana before, so I looked up some recipes online. It's definitely an Italian American favorite. You could change this recipe by substituting thin eggplant rounds or chicken breast.

I think the key to a good "Parmigiana" is to make sure that whatever the main event is (veal, chicken, eggplant) should be as thin as possible. For eggplant this just means slicing it carefully, but for veal and chicken it means pounding it thin. You can pound meat thinner with a special instrument like this, or you can just use something heavy like a rolling pin.

Veal Parmigiana
Makes approximately 8 servings

Ingredients
8 veal scallops
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 and 1/2 cups of pasta sauce (your favorite jarred sauce)
2/3 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 cup of plain breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 cup of mozzarella cheese (or 16 thin slices of fresh mozzarella)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper

Start by making sure the veal is thin enough, if not, pound it until it is very thin, approximately 1/2 a centimeter thick. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Next, mix the breadcrumbs, 1/2 a cup of the Parmesan, the Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper on a plate. Place the flour on to a plate. Place the beaten eggs on to a plate or into a shallow bowl. This is your assembly line.

Take each piece of veal through the assembly line; first, cover the veal lightly with flour. Next, dip and get a light coating of egg all over. Finally, cover the veal with the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure the veal is well covered with breadcrumbs. Repeat the process for your other pieces of veal.

Heat up your olive oil on a medium-high flame. When the oil is hot, add a couple of pieces of veal, cooking on each side approximately 2-3 minutes. Do not crowd the pan. You want the veal to be slightly brown and crispy on the outside. Remove veal from the pan and leave to drain on paper towels. Repeat process until all of the veal is cooked.



Lightly coat a oven safe dish with oil to prevent sticking. Add about a cup of the tomato sauce - just enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer. Next, add the veal. You can overlap pieces depending on the size of the pan. On top of the veal add the remainder of the tomato sauce. Finally, add the mozzarella over the top of the veal, and then sprinkle some Parmesan on top. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes. If you wish to brown the top, remove the foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking, or put under a broiler for a minute or two.

I served my veal parmigiana with regular spaghetti and some extra tomato sauce.