To make sure you get the tastiest veal piccata, you’ll first need to ask yourself the question of what is veal piccata? In its simplest form, it means pounded pan-fried veal cutlets. So to get the most out of this dish, you’ll need to ensure you’ve pounded your cutlets to an even thickness, so they cook at similar rates. This can be quickly achieved at home by pounding your cutlets with a meat mallet between plastic wrap, or using a rolling pin if you don’t have a specific meat pounding tool.
We’ve featured dry sherry in the recipe above, but you could use a dry white wine if this is more to your liking. Just ensure you don’t use a sweet wine as this will overpower the flavor of the sauce. Some chefs will also vary the citrus element used. In the recipe shared above we’ve used lemon, which is classically found in this recipe, but orange will bring a sweeter taste to your sauce. Grapefruit can bring a hint of bitterness if you’d prefer more complex, sophisticated flavors. The salty element of the dish is found in the capers, but if this is too polarizing for your taste, Italian olives are more widely popular and bring the saltiness needed to balance the sauce.
Veal can be an expensive cut of beef, so if you want to explore using different cuts for this dish to make it more affordable, we have a useful guide and infographic detailing 60 different beef cuts for you to explore and choose from.
How to serve it
Veal piccata is at its best when served alongside hearty side dishes of potatoes. From fluffy mashed potatoes, to scalloped varieties, you can’t go wrong with any type of potato matched with a veal piccata. Of course, with its Italian roots, veal piccata is also perfectly at home when paired with a bed of fresh pasta. You can use any variety of pasta shape you like, and the piccata sauce is a delicious coating for the pasta, as well as the veal.
Storage
You can keep any leftover veal piccata in the fridge for up to three days, in an airtight container. It’s possible to reheat the veal cutlets but make sure you do so on a low heat, and add a little stock to cover the cutlets whilst reheating so they don’t dry out. You can freeze the cutlets if necessary, but it’s better if you haven’t already added the veal piccata sauce to the cutlets before doing so.