Tonight’s late night dinner was ‘Il braciola di maiale con il vino bianco e capperi’ or pork braciola with white wine and capers. Since it’s a new recipe that I just created for this evening, and was so well received by ‘the Family’, I will add it to my repertoire and call it ‘Il maiale da Pantelleria’, (after the island that the best capers are thought to come from).
I took 2 super thick, or double cut boneless pork loin chops and sliced them into about 7 thin cutlets, or Scaloppini’s. Salt and flour, and pan fried them (in 3 batches) in good quality Calabrian olive oil until nicely browned, adding a few teaspoons of oil as needed. Deglaze with 2 cups of a good Sauvignon Blanc to boil for a few seconds, really scraping the good stuff off the bottom, then added 2 cups of a good quality chicken stock. A few or 3 sage leafs were thrown in, and the meat added back to the mix. Salt and pepper.
Brought to boil again, I then lowered heat to low simmer. Covered and cooked for 1 hour. After the hour I removed the sage, added a bit of water due to a somewhat ‘too thick’ sauce for my liking. I added a handful of small imported capers, rinsed free of their brine, and a large handful of cold water rinsed baby spinach, mixing all well into the sauces. I then simmered it for an additional 15 minutes, when I checked seasoning and readjusted to taste.
Served over some buttery, and perfectly cooked risotto (Vialone Nano) with lots of the wonderful sauce.
The pork was fork tender and beautiful. The capers and spinach really added something to this dishes overall flavor. Very vibrant and pure, and oh so pleasing.
An interesting variation on some of my Italian cooking standards where I try NOT using garlic. I love it, but the Mrs., not so much. Flavor has many faces.
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