Tender veal in crispy bread crumbs, slathered in homemade tomato sauce, and gooey mozzarella
- Serves: 2
- Prep: 15 mins
- Cooking: 30 mins
- Difficulty: easy
- Ideal for: hearty snack, lunch, easy dinner
- Budget: £
‘Veal Parm Sandwiches’
Did you ever watch the brilliant TV series, The Sopranos?
From Tony Sopranos to Agent Harris the veal Parm sandwich from Satriale’s pork store was a firm favourite.
The original Italian sandwich evolved from aubergine into veal Parmigiana.
And despite the name, the dish isn’t from the Parma region.
But apparently, more likely to have come from the tomato-rich Campania region (near Naples).
There are two main components of the veal Parmigiana sandwich: the sauce and the meat.
Veal Parmigiana sandwich
The sauce is really simple, made of three ingredients; onion, garlic and tomato passata.
(or tinned tomatoes if you don’t have pasta).
What is passata?
Tomato passata is just tomato puree.
It’s made from pureed and strained tomatoes.
So, you often add other flavours like onion, garlic, herbs, spices, into the cooking.
And in this saucy sandwich recipe, it’s onion and garlic.
But add whatever takes you’re fancy.
What is the difference between beef and veal?
Beef is from older cattle whereas veal is the meat of younger cattle.
Veal is the meat from calves, mostly pure-bred male dairy calves.
Is veal ethical?
The information below is taken from a few sites including the RSPCA, foodism and Jamie Oliver.
Meat and dairy cows are different breeds.
And male dairy calves are not usually suitable for beef production.
Bad reputation
Veal got a really bad reputation in the 80’s – 90’s due to the practice of crate-raising.
It was the product of cruelty and, in 2007, this method of production was outlawed in the EU.
However, in the EU there are still some less than kind farming methods.
But British farmers have created a product that stands apart, called rose veal.
These calves are housed in light, airy barns, and given deep straw bedding for comfort and enrichment.
British rose veal; an ethical approach
If you eat meat or consume dairy, then supporting British roast veal is an ethical choice from an animal welfare perspective
i.e. calves are unwanted by-product of the dairy industry that will be slaughtered either way.
So, if you do eat meat and consume dairy, you may want to support British rose veal.
The calves are treated better and live longer than most animals slaughtered for meat.
Avoid ‘white’ veal
A lot of Europe’s veal is still white.
This means the calves aren’t reared with consideration to the animals welfare.
The more pink or rose veal produced in the UK is indicative of better nutrition and welfare for the calf.
Fancy more ideas?
Check out a great steak sandwich, visit here
References:
Veal cutlet parmigiana sandwich
Ingredients
Veal
- 500 g British rose veal *only buy rose veal for animal welfare reasons
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 – 2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
- oil
- squeeze of lemon
Sauce
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 600 g tomato passata (or use 2 x tinned tomatoes)
- salt and pepper for seasoning
Assembly
- 4 ciabata buns or baguettes, toasted
- 1 large ball of mozzarella, sliced
- grated parmesan cheese
- fresh basil
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and finely chop the onion.In a large deep frying pan, add a little oil and add the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes before adding the passata (swirl a bit of water in the empty jar to get all the tomato out), season and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer while you prep the veal.
- Gently pound your veal if it's not thin enough with a rolling pin.In another frying pan, add approx. 2 cm of sunflower oil and heat up ready to fry the veal.In three bowls, set up; 1. eggs, beaten, 2. plain flour, 3. seasoned breadcrumbs.Dredge each cutlet: 1, 2, 3, and place in the frying pain. Cook for approx 3 – 4 mins on each side or until golden brown.Squeeze a little lemon over and transfer to the tomato sauce pan, making sure the veal is covered in sauce. Let the veal, cook in the sauce for approx 5 -10 mins to take on the flavours.
- Half your rolls and toast.
Assemble
- Cut your veal in half if they are too big.Lay in the toasted roll, add the sliced mozzarella and pop under the grill for a minute or until the cheese starts to melt.Add a little more sauce if you like and some basil.Enjoy.