Elizabeth Hewson’s crumbed pork chops recipe
As with all delicious things, you’ll find versions of crumbed meat in almost every corner of the world. Cotoletta, an Italian dish, will do wonders for your mood.
Making pork cotoletta, or crumbed pork chops, is the energy release we all need. I can’t emphasis enough how good the feeling is of channelling a bad day into the beating of one pork chop.
As with all delicious things, you’ll find versions of crumbed and fried meat in almost every corner of the world. There’s the famous Viennese schnitzel or the Japanese tonkatsu, to name just two. I’d even argue Australians have our own version in the humble crumbed lamb chop, a dish many, especially country folk, will recall fondly, or not so fondly, from their childhood (served with overcooked veg, no doubt). I’m sure beating the lamb chops into shape was a satisfying outlet for the women of that time.
Cotoletta, an Italian dish, is traditionally made with veal. One of its distinctive characteristics is that the bone is left in – cotoletta literally meaning “little rib”. As is the case in almost every dish in Italy, you’ll find it is prepared and served in different ways throughout the country. Most famously, Cotoletta alla Milanese, which hails from the Lombardy region and is said to be birthplace of the dish, is fried in clarified butter. In this version, I’ve fried the chop in burnt butter and finished it off with sage and capers, perhaps a sauce you’ll be more familiar with tossing through pasta. I love the nuttiness the brown butter brings, which is lifted with the brininess of the capers and earthiness of the fried sage. I promise you, this is not just your standard crumbed piece of meat.
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RECIPE: Pork cotoletta
Ingredients
- 2 pork chops, rind removed, fat trimmed – ask your butcher todo this for you
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup plain flour
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs (panko crumbs also work)
- ½ cup Parmigiano Reggiano or parmesan
- 1 lemon, zest
- 2 tablespoons capers in vinegar, drained and dried on a paper towel
- 20 sage leaves
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 40g butter
- Lemon cheeks, to serve
Method
- Place the chops on a board. Cover with baking/parchment paper.
- Using a meat mallet or rolling pin, pound the chop until it is about 1cm thick. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Lay out three shallow bowls. Place flour in the first bowl, whisk an egg in your second bowl, and combine your breadcrumbs, cheese and zest of 1 lemon in the third bowl. Toss breadcrumbs, cheese and zest together to make sure they are well combined.
- Working with one chop at a time, lightly coat first in the flour mixture, give it a shake, then dip in the egg, coating both sides, shake it off, and finally cover and coat in the breadcrumb mixture. Put on a plate and repeat with the second chop.
- Place a frypan on medium heat. Add olive oil and butter. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until foamy and nutty. Carefully add your crumbed pork chops. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden, then turn over and repeat. Using tongs, you may want to hold the pork chop on its side to get some colour. In the last 2 minutes of cooking, carefully throw in your capers and sage. Fry until crisp.
- Pull your pork chops out onto paper towel and give them a good pat. Serve onto a plate and spoon over crisp capers and sage leaves. Serve with lemon cheeks and a season of salt flakes.
Serves 2
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