Cotoletta alla Milanese

Ingredients

• 2 bone-in veal rib chops cut 3cm thick, about 350g each
• 2 large eggs
• 200g fine dry breadcrumbs
• 180g clarified butter
• Fine salt
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Before you cook

• Trim the fat from the outside edge of each chop and scrape the last few centimetres of the bone clean.
• Nick the outer membrane in three places so the chop stays flat in the pan.
• Beat the eggs in a shallow dish with a pinch of salt.
• Spread the breadcrumbs in a second shallow dish.

Steps

1. Lay each chop between two sheets of cling film and tap it with the flat of a meat mallet, just enough to even out the thickness without thinning it below 2cm.
2. Hold a chop by the bone and turn it in the beaten egg until every surface is coated.
3. Lay the chop in the breadcrumbs and press them on firmly with your palm, then turn it and press the other side.
4. Return the chop to the egg and then to the breadcrumbs a second time, for a double coating.
5. Coat the second chop in the same way.
6. Rest the breaded chops on a rack for 15 minutes so the crust sets.
7. Melt the clarified butter in a heavy frying pan over a medium heat until it foams gently.
8. Lower one chop into the butter and cook it for four minutes, spooning butter over the top as it goes.
9. Turn the chop and cook the second side for a further four minutes, until the crust is an even hazelnut brown.
10. Stand the chop on its fatty edge for one minute to colour the rim.
11. Lift the chop onto a rack and season the crust with fine salt straight away.
12. Cook the second chop in the same butter.
13. Rest both chops for five minutes, then serve them with lemon wedges.