Veal saltimbocca

" My secret pleasure is bacon, and any dish with bacon always tastes great. Here is a melt in the mouth bacon wrapped veal parcels, flavoured with garlic and sage. Saltimbocca has always intrigued me, as it literally means "jump in your mouth", and once you eat it, you will realise why ..." 

Serves 5 

Ingredients:

• 600 grams veal steaks
• 200 grams (around 12 rashers) bacon (or pancetta or prosciutto)
• 20 sage leaves (small)
• Flour for coating (approximately 4 tbsp)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 3 handfuls spinach (chopped)
• 1 tbsp capers (optional)
• 1 tsp lime/lemon juice 
• Paprika, salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Make either 5 big steaks or 10 small veal steaks from 600 grams of veal
2. Beat the veal steaks with a mallet, till they are very thin ( as thin as you can manage without tearing them)
3. Season the steaks with salt, pepper and paprika to taste 
4. Press 2 sage leaves on each small steak, or 4 in each big steak 
5. Use 10 rashers of bacon, by wrapping 1 rasher of bacon, around each of the veal steak and beat a couple of times with the mallet
6. Season the flour with salt, pepper and paprika 
7. Cover the veal steaks lightly in the flour, removing any excess flour
8. In a frying pan add the olive oil and butter 
9. When the butter is foaming, add the veal, on high and then lower gas to medium, to get a nice golden crust
10. Add the garlic and the remaining sage leaves, all around the steak,s in the frying pan
11. Turn the veal steaks after 2-3 minutes 
12. Remove the veal steaks after another 2 minutes, and put them in a pre-heated oven till the rest of the dish is ready, leaving pan juices, garlic, sage in the frying pan
13. Chop the remaining, 2 rashers of bacon and add to the frying pan, cooking off excess liquid
14. De-glaze the frying pan, with the wine, cooking off the alcohol ( Basically on high heat add the wine and let it cook till reduced by half)
15. Add lemon juice, spinach, capers (optional) and season to taste
16. Serve the dish, with the spinach as a base and top with the veal saltimbocca 

Notes:

• I prefer smaller size steaks, as then the flavours are more concentrated, planning for 2 pieces per person
• Be careful while seasoning the veal, flour, spinach with salt as the dish is salty due to the bacon additions
• Cooking time depends on quality, thickness of veal and required doneness, so adjust accordingly
• All preparations till step 7, can be done ahead of time, refrigerate veal covered with cling film till ready to cook
• Instead of veal, chicken could also be used for a chicken saltimbocca recipe