In Piedmont, the breaded cutlet is all the rage. Not Milanese-style, but alla Torino — with a crust made from grissini, long thin crispy breadsticks that originated in the city. The key to the perfect golden-brown crust? Clarified butter. We lifted this recipe from Marco Sacco, chef of the two-star Michelin-rated restaurant Piccolo Lago in Verbania and Piano 35 in Torino, where he makes the breaded cutlet his way.
Chef Marco Sacco
“For me, this recipe represents Piedmontese tradition, and the desire to invent a dish with roots in the Turin tradition in the name of one of its most typical products, the grissini breadstick. My cooking has always been linked to my life, and even in this case, I’m expressing my experience and my passions, especially from childhood. The breaded cutlet. After all, what could be better for kids? I added a cherry tomato salad with onions to refresh the palate, for a unique pleasure of simple and decisive flavors,” said the chef.
Grissinopoli, the Grissini-Breaded Cutlet - Recipe by Chef Marco Sacco
Makes 5 cutlets
Ingredients:
For the cutlets
2 lb. veal filet
1 lb. crumbled grissini breadsticks
3 large eggs
16 oz. breadcrumbs
salt - pepper
1 lb. clarified butter
For the cherry tomato salad
1 ¼ lb. cherry tomatoes
¼ cup red onion, finely chopped
extra-virgin olive oil - salt, to taste
Method:
Divide the veal fillets into 5 slices of 6 oz. each. Beat the slices slightly to a thickness of at least ¾". In a bowl, mix the eggs with salt and pepper. Bread the slices as such: dip in the breadcrumbs, then the egg, and lastly, the grissini. Lightly press the crust and then brown the cutlets in a pan in clarified butter. Finish cooking in the oven at 400ºF for 3-4 minutes.
For the cherry salad
Clean the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. Finely chop the onion and rinse it under running water for 1 minute. Add the cherry tomatoes and onion in a bowl and season with extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper.
Finishing and presentation
Place the tomato and onion salad on a serving plate, slice the cutlet in half, and place both slices in the center of the plate, slightly overlapping. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Grissinopoli