Stretching from the province of Sondrio in the north to Mantova in the south, Lombardia is the most populated region in Italy. Given its size, its cuisine is varied but always tends to reflect its peasant roots. Dishes are simple but delicious and include hearty specialties such as polenta, ossobucca and cassoeula along with favorites like risotto and fried breaded veal cutlets. The region has some fine cheeses – gorgonzola, crescenza, taleggio and mascarpone – and the shores of Lake Garda produce some wonderful olive oil. This is also the region that provides us with our much loved Christmas cake, panetone.
Traditional dishes:
Cotolette alla Milanese: Veal Cutlets, Milanese Style
Ingredients
- 4 veal chops on the bone
- 50 g flour
- 1 egg
- 75 g breadcrumbs
- 75 g unsalted butter
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 lemon, quartered
Instructions
- Flatten the chops slightly with a meat mallet and season with a little salt and pepper.
- Dip chops into the flour, then into the beaten egg and finally into the breadcrumbs.
- Heat the butter in a large frying pan and cook the chops until golden brown all over, approx. 6 minutes either side.
- Serve immediately, a lemon quarter next to each breaded chop.
Number of servings (yield): 4
Cassoeula: Rich Pork Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 small onion
- 3 carrots
- 1 rib of celery
- 1 large savoy cabbage
- 50 g butter
- 500 g pork chops
- 100 g pig skin, chopped
- 1 pig’s trotter, halved, cooked in boiling water for ½ hr
- Pork ears, tail, cheek etc as available
- 1 ladleful meat broth
- 2 tbsp tomato concentrate
- 4 small pork sausages, cut into pieces
Instructions
- Slice the onion and roughly chop carrots and celery and discard larger tougher cabbage leaves.
- Chop cabbage into pieces.
- Heat the butter in a large pan and fry onions.
- Add the pork chops, the skin, the pig’s trotter (previously boiled), the ears, tail, cheek, carrots and celery and cook together for 5 – 10 minutes.
- Add the meat broth and tomato concentrate and season with salt and pepper.
- Cover and cook over a low heat for about two hours, adding a little hot water if necessary.
- Add the chopped sausages along with the chopped cabbage and cook for a further 30 minutes.
- Serve immediately and accompany with some polenta.
Number of servings (yield): 4
Risotto alla Milanese: Risotto Milanese Style
Ingredients
- 400 g Carnaroli rice
- 75 g butter
- 50 g beef-marrow, or finely chopped pancetta
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1.5 liters meat broth, kept very hot
- 1/3 teaspoon powdered saffron
- 60 g grated Parmesan or Grana
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Melt 50 g of the butter in a thick bottomed pan then add the beef-marrow (or pancetta) and the onion.
- Sauté until onion is transparent.
- Add the rice and stir well until rice is coated with oil and is translucent.
- Add the broth, a ladleful at a time, waiting until the broth has been absorbed before adding any more.
- After about 10 minutes, add the saffron dissolved in a little hot broth then continue cooking.
- When rice is cooked al dente and the risotto is nice and creamy, taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Remove from the heat, beat in the remaining butter and stir in the grated Parmesan cheese.
- Leave to rest for a minute then serve.
Number of servings (yield): 4
Vitello Tonnato: Cold Sliced Veal
Ingredients
- 1 kg boneless veal topside
- 1 liter white wine
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 celery rib, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- Small bunch of parsley
- 1 lemon
- 150 g best quality tuna in oil
- 25 pickled capers, plus a few extra for garnish
- 250 g good quality mayonnaise
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4 small anchovies under oil, drained
Instructions
- Place the veal in a large terracotta casserole dish, pour in the wine and add just enough water to cover veal.
- Throw in the carrot, onion, celery, the two cloves of garlic, bay leaf, most of the parsley, and the zest of the lemon.
- Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 1 ½ – 2 hours. Meanwhile, prepare the mayonnaise.
- Place the tuna, capers, mayonnaise and a teaspoon of lemon juice in a mixer and whiz briefly a couple of times on ‘pulse’ to combine ingredients.
- The sauce is ready.
- When veal is ready, remove from heat and allow to cool in its liquid.
- This keeps the meat moist.
- When it has completely cooled, remove from the casserole dish and drain well before cutting into thin slices.
- Arrange the slices veal on a serving plate, cover with the tuna mayonnaise and garnish with a little chopped parsley, the anchovies and a few extra capers.
- Chill in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.
Number of servings (yield): 4-6
Polenta ai Quattro Formaggi: Polenta with Four Cheeses (actually five!)
Ingredients
- 50 g gorgonzola
- 50 g stracchino
- 50 g pecorino
- 50 g gruyère
- 75 g grana
- 500 g polenta flour
- 2½ liters water
- ½ glass milk
- 1½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Cut all the different cheeses into pieces and divide into two parts.
- Bring the water and milk to the boil in a large pan and add salt.
- Slowly pour in the polenta flour, stirring all the time to avoid lumps forming.
- Cook over a low heat, still stirring, for about 40 minutes, or until polenta has cooked and thickened.
- About half way through cooking, toss in one half of the cheese and proceed as normal.
- Once cooked, pour the polenta into an oiled ovenproof dish, cover with the remaining cheese and cook in an oven preheated to 350ºF for about 15 minutes.
- Serve immediately.