thefoodlessprocessed

Italian scaloppine are traditionally of veal, thinly sliced and pounded. Many traditional French recipes for escalopes require veal, too. In any recipe for veal scaloppine or escalopes of veal, pork tenderloin may substitute for the veal. Good pork tenderloin is more generally available than good veal. (Chicken breasts may also be made into scaloppine or escalopes. This post illustrates how.)

Recipes for both scaloppine and escalopes are numerous and an ingredient substituted, here and there, results in an entirely different dish–illustrative of how useful are an understanding of basic ingredients and how to use them.

Click on these links to read about less processed Pork Tenderloin or less processed Chicken Breasts.

Equipment

• a Cutting Board
• a Knife with a Long Blade and a Sharp Edge
• a Kitchen Mallet (aka Meat Tenderizer)
• Plastic Wrap

Ingredient

• a Whole Pork Tenderloin or more, depending on the number of scaloppine you wish to make. A 1-pound Tenderloin (454 g) usually will make 8 to 10 scaloppine.. (Tenderloins of about 1 pound are the best size for making them. Tenderloins sold in a brine or marinade will not do. Their texture is altered and, when thinly sliced and flattened, they do not retain the tender yet firm quality characteristic of good scaloppine. Very large tenderloins can be a bit stringy when cut for scaloppine.)

Making the Scaloppine~ Learning the Technique of Butterflying

• Cut down through the center of the tenderloin. (The best scaloppine will be formed from the thickest sections of the halves.
• Dry the tenderloin, place it on the cutting board, and trim it of fat.
• Set one half aside and place the other horizontally before you on the cutting board. Place the knife about 1/4-inch in from the center cut and make a partial cut of about 2/3 of an inch down through the meat. Place the knife about 1/4-inch in from the partial cut and cut down all the way through the meat.
• Open the two halves of the piece like a book. This is the basic cut for making the scaloppine. Continue slicing the tenderloin half in this manner. (The small tenderloin ends may be frozen for another use.)
• After cutting the desired number of scaloppine, they are ‘butterflied’ by opening each one like a book, placing a piece of plastic wrap over it, and gently flattening it with a kitchen mallet.