Pork Milanese

The sky is falling. Seems like it anyway. Rain is literally drowning the city right now. I was still at work when the tornado sirens starting screaming and the few remaining in our office slowly made our way downstairs and in the center of the building. Thank God there was no actual tornado. We all clearly lacked any sense of alarm or urgency and would have died. Anyway, volleyball for the night was canceled because of it, and while I really wanted to go out somewhere to watch the hockey game, I settled for dry land (as in my floor), pajamas, hot chocolate and a home cooked meal with this Pork Milanese.

It was delicious, but I really wanted to eat French fries and beer. 

I love French fries and beer.

Moving on, because I like French fries and beer, sometimes veggies must take center stage and today’s food is a whole lotta that.

As I mentioned before, Argentina draws a lot of inspiration from Europe, namely Italy, and I found some signature Italian food on the list of signature Argentinian food. I picked pork Milanese and had originally planned to make a lovely pumpkin gnocchi beside it until it dawned on me that pumpkin gnocchi didn’t quite scream summer. And, despite the picture outside, it is summer.

Side note: Pumpkin gnocchi, coming soon this fall.

Turns out I overbought peppers and a zucchini and those totally scream summer. Plus, going with the Italian theme, I finally got to use my spiralizer, which has been sitting untouched for almost a year, to jump on the zoodle bandwagon for some not-pasta pasta. Reduced in a little wine and lemon and garnished with some parsley, mint and parmesan…summer on a plate, reminiscent of pasta primavera, and the perfect contrast to the crispy pork cutlets.

Gotta go. The puck just dropped.

Pork Milanese

June 15, 2015

Servings: 2

Prep: 10 min

Total: 30 min

Difficulty: Easy

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South American style pork Milanese are thin fried pork cutlets served with fresh zucchini noodles.

By: Chrissy

Ingredients

• For the pork:
• 1/2 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 2 boneless pork loin chops, pounded thin to 1/3 inch-thick (1 1/2 pounds total) or 2 pieces of pork, scallopini style
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Smoked paprika
• 2-4 TB olive oil
• For the zoodles:
• 1/2 TB olive oil
• 1 zucchini, shaved with a vegetable peeler or made into noodles with a spiralizer
• 1 yellow pepper, cored and coarsely chopped
• 1 orange pepper, cored and coarsely chopped
• 1 large shallot, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 TB white wine (I used a pinot grigio)
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 2 TB fresh mint, julienned
• salt and pepper
• smoked paprika
• 1/4-1/2 cup shaved parmesan

Directions

• Step 1 In a large, deep skillet, over medium heat, add the olive oil. Add the shallots and garlic and cook about 2 minutes. Add the peppers and let get soft, about 5 minutes. Add the wine (about 1 circle of the pan) and let reduce. Work on the pork.
• Step 2 Meanwhile, to a medium shallow bowl, add the panko. Lightly beat the egg in another large shallow bowl. Add the flour to a third bowl. Season each of the panko, flour and egg with a bit of salt, pepper and smoked paprika. Sprinkle the pork generously with salt and pepper. Dip the pork, 1 piece at a time, in the flour, shaking of the excess, then the egg, allowing the excess to drip off, then dredge the pork in the crumb mixture, patting to coat completely. Set aside.
• Step 3 Heat about 2 TB oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. One at a time, add the pork to the hot oil and shallow fry until golden brown and just cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
• Step 4 Finish the noodles by adding the zucchini to the pan and saute about 3 minutes until cooked through. Toss in the lemon juice and herbs and fold in the cheese.
• Step 5 Transfer the noodles to a plate, add the pork and serve with extra lemon wedges and cheese as desired.