Cotoletta alla Milanese

bone-in veal, thick crust, fried in butter

Prep
15 min
Cook
12 min
Total
27 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
Rating
4.8 / 5 (176 ratings)

Bone-in veal rib chop, pounded at the edges but kept thick around the bone, coated in fresh breadcrumbs and fried in a mix of butter and oil. The breadcrumbs need to be fresh from stale bread, not the dried kind in a tin. The crust should be golden and a bit wrinkled. People compare it to schnitzel. It's not schnitzel.

Ingredients

For 4 servings.

  • 4 pcs bone-in veal rib chops (about 250g each, ask for "orecchia di elefante" cut if available)
  • 2 pcs eggs
  • 200 g fresh breadcrumbs, from stale white bread
  • 50 g 00 flour
  • 80 g butter
  • 40 ml neutral oil (sunflower)
  • 2 pcs lemons (to serve)
  • to taste fine salt

Method

  1. 1. Pound the chops

    Use a meat mallet to pound the meat around the edges of the bone thin, while keeping the area closest to the bone thicker. The distinctive shape is part of the dish. Season both sides with salt.

  2. 2. Bread them

    Set up three dishes: flour, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs. Dust each chop lightly in flour, dip in egg letting the excess drip off, then press firmly into the breadcrumbs on both sides. Pat gently so the crumbs stick. Don't shake off the excess crumbs.

    Fresh breadcrumbs give a thicker, more irregular crust than dried. The irregularity is what makes it look right.

  3. 3. Fry

    Heat the butter and oil in a wide pan until the butter foams and starts to smell nutty. Lay the chops in. Cook without moving for 3-4 minutes per side until deep golden. The crust should be set and firm before you flip.

    Don't move them while they're frying or the crust tears. If the butter browns too fast, reduce the heat.

  4. 4. Drain and serve

    Transfer to kitchen paper, salt immediately while still hot. Serve with lemon halves. The lemon is not optional.

Nutrition per serving

  • 590 kcal
  • Protein: 44g
  • Carbs: 22g
  • Fat: 35g

A bit of history

The cotoletta alla milanese is often claimed to be the ancestor of the Wiener schnitzel. The Milanese have documentary evidence of the dish from the 12th century, and the story goes that an Austrian field marshal brought the recipe back to Vienna after spending time in Milan. Austrians dispute this.

The key difference from a schnitzel is the bone. Milanese cotoletta is always on the bone; schnitzel is never on the bone. The cooking fat also differs: schnitzel uses clarified butter or lard, cotoletta uses a mix of butter and oil. Both should be eaten quickly while the crust is still crisp.