Saltimbocca

How to make it

1. Pound the veal cutlets out to about 5 mm with a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pot. They need to be evenly thin all the way out so they finish cooking at the same time.
   Chef's tip Work from the centre outward with light, gliding strokes rather than straight blows — hammering tears the fibres and leaves holes the prosciutto can't cover. Cover the meat with plastic or baking paper to keep it from sticking to the mallet.
2. Season the veal cutlets lightly on one side with salt and freshly ground pepper. Go easy on the salt, since the prosciutto will already salt the dish heavily. Lay a sage leaf on the seasoned side of each cutlet and cover it with a slice of prosciutto crudo. Secure the layers with a toothpick so the ham doesn't slide off in the pan.
3. Dredge four of the cutlets in the flour on the bare meat side and tap off the excess, and leave the last four unfloured until the first four are already in the pan. The flour should sit as a thin, dry veil with no clumps, since that's what gives the crust in the butter, and it draws moisture and goes pasty if the meat stands floured while it waits.
4. Rinse the spinach thoroughly and let it drain briefly. Put the wet spinach in a large pot with a pinch of salt and cover with a lid. Steam over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times along the way, until the leaves have fully wilted and turned dark green.
5. Tip the steamed spinach into a strainer and let it cool for a moment. Press the water out thoroughly with the back of a spoon until no more runs off. Chop the spinach coarsely and set it aside.
6. Melt 25 g of the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat until it foams up and smells nutty. Add four of the cutlets, floured meat side down, and fry until the underside is golden brown. Flip them and give them a brief pass on the ham side, until the prosciutto has darkened and the scent of sage rises up. Move them to a warm platter and fry the remaining four the same way in another 25 g of the butter. ⏱ 10 min
   Chef's tip The butter's foaming and nutty smell means most of its water has cooked off and the pan is browning-hot; once the foam dies down and it starts to smell sharp, it's on its way to burning. Four cutlets at a time keeps the pan from cooling and steaming the meat.
7. Pour the white wine into the hot pan and scrape the browned bits loose with a wooden spoon. Let the wine boil down for 2-4 minutes, until it's reduced by half and smells mellow. Take the pan completely off the heat and whisk in the last 20 g of cold butter, until the sauce is glossy and just barely emulsified. The butter needs to go in off the heat, or the sauce will break instead of binding.
   Chef's tip Cold butter, whisked in off the heat and a little at a time, melts slowly enough to stay suspended in the wine instead of separating into a fatty pool. If the sauce does split, a splash of cold wine and hard whisking will often pull it back together.
8. Warm the olive oil with the sliced garlic cloves in a pan over medium heat, until the garlic is fragrant and pale gold. Add the pressed, chopped spinach and toss it until it's heated through and glossy with the oil. Season to taste with salt.
9. Remove the toothpicks and place two cutlets on each flat plate, ham side up. Spoon the glossy wine sauce over the meat. Set the spinach out in its own bowl in the middle of the table, the way a contorno is served in Italy. That way everyone can help themselves to spinach alongside the meat.