If chef Matteo Stefani is famous for one thing, it’s his cotoletta sbagliata (“mistaken cutlet”), a riff on the cotoletta alla Milanese on the menu at Anche, his Milan restaurant. Come Sunday, his brunch prix fixe menu mixes the sweet and the savory, and he’d be remiss if he didn't offer his crispy, tender, fragrant cutlet – it has a cult following.
Stefani knew it was impossible to make the emblematic cotoletta alla Milanese with, as tradition dictates, veal at his target price point, so he created a sbagliata, or “mistaken” version of the cutlet using pork — unsurprisingly, other chefs have followed suit and various riffs abound at several Milan restaurants.
To make the recipe his own, he added a few more deliberate “errors,” such as incorporating orange juice and sliced almonds. Here’s how you can prepare Stefani’s beloved mistaken pork cutlet alla Milanese at home.
Matteo Stefani’s Cotoletta Sbagliata Recipe
Photo: Riccardo Lettieri
Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
3 oz. pork loin
2 large eggs beaten
salt
clarified butter (enough to fry the entire cutlet)
oranges
breadcrumbs
sliced almonds
Good to know: If you can't find clarified butter at the store, you can make it at home. To do so, simply melt butter in a saucepan. Use a slotted spoon to skim off the milk solids that form on the top. Spoon the golden clarified butterfat into a separate saucepan, which you'll use for cooking, leaving the milky white substance on the bottom of the original pan.
Method
Flatten and widen the pork loin (first “mistake”) with a meat tenderizer until it’s between 9″-10″ in diameter, the shape of an “elephant ear.” Season the beaten eggs with a pinch of salt and juice from 1⁄2 orange (second "mistake"). Mix the breadcrumbs with the sliced almonds (third "mistake"). Dip the cutlet in the beaten eggs two times, then in the breadcrumbs and almonds so that it’s coated in the mixture. Fry the cutlet in the clarified butter for a few minutes on each side until it’s cooked through, let dry and while still hot, spray it with a spritz of orange juice.