Saltimbocca "Jumps In The Mouth"

What is Saltimbocca and why haven't I ever made it? I just thought it was complicated so I never looked into it - until now.

A classic Italian recipe made with veal, the word Saltimbocca means "jump in the mouth". There is usually prosciutto used in the dish which gives it the jump in the mouth flavor. I don't eat veal, but I found lots of recipes using chicken and pork with the word saltimbocca in the recipe title.

I saw a recipe from bon appetit that looked really easy and had only 3 ingredients.  Couldn't get easier than that.   I had all the ingredients so I didn't have to make supermarket run.

I did have prosciutto in the fridge which was a leftover from Friday's pizza topping, but I didn't have sage so I used fresh parsley. The parsley is definitely a far cry from sage but we are getting our 'jump in the mouth' flavor from the prosciutto.

Pork "Saltimbocca" with Roasted Onions and Potatoes
(Recipe adapted from bon appetit magazine).

 Ingredients

• 4 pork loin chops
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 2 onions, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
• 2 TBLS. olive oil
• 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes sliced in rounds (or use whatever potatoes you have)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh sage (optional parsley, rosemary or thyme)
• 8 slices prosciutto

Directions:

1. Pierce the pork with a tip of a pairing knife. Place single layer in large dish and pour the wine over the top and set aside to marinate at room temperature while preparing the other ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice the onions and lay them out in a large pan and coat with the olive oil. Slice the potatoes and toss in a bowl with olive oil and sage or whatever herbs you choose and place in the pan tucking them in with the onions. Season with a little salt and pepper.
3. Place the onion and potato mixture in the oven and roast until the potatoes start to brown around the edges. Depending on the thickness, it can take 15-20 minutes.
4. Remove pork from the marinade and pat dry with paper towel. Season with salt and pepper and place 2 slices prosciutto folded to fit on top of each piece of pork.
5. Now place the meat on top of the roasted onions and potatoes and roast about 10 minutes or until the meat registers 135-140 on meat thermometer.
6. Let meat rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Prep Tips:

• I sliced the onions just a little more than 1/4 inch thick and the potatoes just under that since the onions tend to melt if too thin and the potatoes will take too long if they are too thick.
• Flexible recipes are important to us busy moms/caretakers/CFO's/,etc. and I'm certainly not trying to impress the 'gourmand', so it's o.k. to substitute. 
• You can eliminate the wine. It's used as a tenderizer and it adds a level of flavor, but you can substitute the juice from one orange for the same results.

This entire recipe takes about 40-45 minutes from prep to done! and hardly any mess to clean up. 



I've shared this with:





Mangia!
Winelady Cooks