Rome
Preparation - Easy
Serves 4

So delicious are these rolls of veal that, as their name declares, they "leap into your mouth." Thin slices of veal are covered by a slightly smaller slice of prociutto and a sage leaf. The meat is rolled up and secured with a toothpick "stitched" along the length of the roll, rather than stuck through it

Another, less common, way of making saltimbocca is to leave them flat, securing the prosciutto and the sage leaf to the open piece of veal with the toothpick.

Saltimbocca is a traditional Roman dish.

1 lb scaloppini or scallop of veal sliced wafer thin
5 oz prosciutto, thinly sliced
8 sage leaves
flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or marsala

Place over each thin veal slice some prosciutto in a piece a little smaller than the veal. Put the sage leaf in the middle and roll the veal in a neat sausage-like shape. Secure with a toothpick. Dredge in flour mixed with salt and pepper.

Heat half the butter and oil in a large frying pan and as soon as the butter foam begins to subside, put in the meat rolls. Brown on all sides. The rolls should become quite gold, not pale beige.

Heat the wine in a separate saucepan and pour over the saltimbocca. Raise the heat and bubble the wine away for 1 minute. Transfer the saltimbocca to a heated dish, remove the toothpicks and keep warm. Add a couple of tablespoons of boiling water to the pan and then add the remaining butter bit by bit while swirling the pan around. Taste and check for seasoning. Pour the sauce over thc meat and serve at once on warmed plates.

From:
Gastronomy of Italy
Anna Del Conte
Prentice Hall Press