Traditional dishes:

Cotolette alla Milanese: veal cutlets, Milanese style

Ingredients for 4

4 veal chops on the bone
50 g flour
1 egg
75 g breadcrumbs
75 g unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
1 lemon, quartered

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.

Cassoeula: rich pork casserole

Ingredients for 4

1 small onion
3 carrots
1 rib 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

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.

Risotto alla Milanese: risotto Milanese style

Ingredients for 4

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 and freshly ground black pepper

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.

Vitello Tonnato: cold sliced veal

Ingredients for 4 - 6

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 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 and freshly ground pepper
4 small anchovies under oil, drained

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. The 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.

Polenta ai quattro formaggi: polenta with four cheeses (actually five !)

50 g gorgonzola
50 g stracchino
50 g pecorino
50 g gruyère
75 g grana
500 g polenta flour
2 ½ liters water
½ glass milk
1 ½ tsp salt