Plate 04 of 10

Milanesa a la Napolitana

Name: Milanesa a la Napolitana
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Uruguay
Ingredients: 800 g Beef topside, eye of round or veal round, trimmed, cut into 4 cutlets and pounded to 4 mm; 120 g Plain flour, for the first dredge; 4 large Eggs, beaten; 4 cloves Garlic, minced to a paste; 30 g Flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped; 15 g Dijon mustard; 300 g Fine white breadcrumbs, sifted; 10 g Fine sea salt; 3 g Freshly cracked black pepper; 500 ml Sunflower oil or beef tallow, for frying; 300 ml Salsa criolla de tomate, tomato sauce simmered with onion, garlic, oregano and olive oil; 8 slices Cooked ham, sliced thin; 300 g Mozzarella or Danbo cheese, coarsely shredded; 4 g Dried oregano; 1 kg Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 cm batons

A daily obsession on both banks of the Río de la Plata. Lean beef pounded to 4 mm, breaded with a mustard-stabilised egg wash, fried at 180 °C until it crackles, then topped with tomato sauce, ham and mozzarella and run under the grill until the cheese blisters, with hand-cut chips beside it.

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 20 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A large breaded beef cutlet under a blistered layer of melted mozzarella, ham and tomato sauce dusted with oregano, with a pile of golden chips beside it.

In the Río de la Plata milanesa is a daily obsession. Northern Italian immigrants brought the cotoletta alla milanese, and in the 1940s a cook at a restaurant across from the Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires burned one. To save it he covered it in tomato sauce, ham and mozzarella and slid it under the grill. The customer ordered two more, and the napolitana was born; Montevideo adopted it as its own.

The Uruguayan cut is lean topside or eye of round, pounded thin, breaded in seasoned flour, egg and fine crumbs, fried crisp in hot fat, and finished under tomato sauce, ham and bubbling cheese.

Ingredients

Cutlets and breading
800 gBeef topside, eye of round or veal round, trimmed, cut into 4 cutlets and pounded to 4 mm
120 gPlain flour, for the first dredge
4 largeEggs, beaten
4 clovesGarlic, minced to a paste
30 gFlat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
15 gDijon mustardwhisked into the egg wash
300 gFine white breadcrumbs, sifted
10 gFine sea saltdivided between the meat and the breading
3 gFreshly cracked black pepper
500 mlSunflower oil or beef tallow, for frying
Topping
300 mlSalsa criolla de tomate, tomato sauce simmered with onion, garlic, oregano and olive oil
8 slicesCooked ham, sliced thinabout 160 g
300 gMozzarella or Danbo cheese, coarsely shredded
4 gDried oregano
Chips
1 kgRusset potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 cm batons

Why the breading sticks

Flour absorbs the surface moisture and leaves a tacky starch layer. Dijon in the egg wash adds lecithin and vinegar that stabilise the egg film. Pressing hard into the crumbs and then resting ten minutes lets the gluten and egg proteins bond, so the crust stays on in the oil.

Hot oil keeps it dry

At 180 °C the water in the breading vaporises outward and that escaping steam keeps oil from soaking in. Below 170 °C the crumb drinks oil like a sponge.

Sauce on the ham, not the crust

Spooning warm sauce onto the centre and leaving a border, then laying the ham on top, protects the fried crumb from going soft under the grill.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the seasoned breading, cured ham and cheese. Fat is the fried crumb, tallow and melted mozzarella. Acid is the tomato sauce cutting the fry. Heat is raw garlic and Dijon in the egg, black pepper and oregano. Umami is seared beef, aged cheese, ham and cooked tomato.

Equipment

Meat mallet and plastic wrap
Three wide shallow trays, for the breading station
12-inch heavy stainless or cast-iron skillet
Wire rack
Rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment
Deep pot and thermometer, for the chips

Fry one cutlet at a time. The oil must not lose its temperature, and a big milanesa fills a 12-inch pan on its own. Traditionally it is a wide carbon steel pan holding 2 cm of hot tallow.

Method

Pound and season the cutlets10 min
Lay each cutlet between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound from the centre outward with the flat side of a mallet to an even 4 mm. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Lay each cutlet between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound from the centre outward with the flat side of a mallet to an even 4 mm. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
Set up the breading station5 min
Tray one: flour seasoned with a teaspoon of salt. Tray two: the beaten eggs whisked with the garlic paste, parsley, Dijon and black pepper. Tray three: the fine breadcrumbs.
Tray one: flour seasoned with a teaspoon of salt. Tray two: the beaten eggs whisked with the garlic paste, parsley, Dijon and black pepper. Tray three: the fine breadcrumbs.
Bread with firm pressure15 min
Dredge a cutlet in flour and shake off all but a thin haze. Dip in the egg, wetting every bit of surface. Lay in the crumbs and press down hard with your palms, flip, and press again. Rest the breaded cutlets on a wire rack 10 minutes so the coating bonds.
Dust each cutlet lightly with flour; shake off excess. Dip fully in egg, then press firmly into breadcrumbs on both sides. Rest on a wire rack 10 minutes to bond the coating.
Fry to golden10 min
Pour oil into the skillet to 2 cm deep and heat to 180 °C. Lay one cutlet in, away from you, and fry undisturbed 2 to 3 minutes until the underside is deep golden. Flip and fry 2 minutes more. Drain on paper towels and repeat.
Heat oil 2 cm deep to 180 °C. Lower one cutlet away from you; fry undisturbed 2–3 minutes until deeply golden underneath. Flip and fry 2 minutes more. Drain on paper towels; repeat.
Build the napolitana layers5 min
Heat the grill to high, about 250 °C. Move the cutlets to the lined baking sheet. Spread 3 tablespoons of warm tomato sauce over the centre of each, leaving the crisp edges bare. Lay two slices of ham over the sauce, blanket with shredded mozzarella, and scatter with oregano.
Heat grill to 250 °C. Put cutlets on the lined sheet; spread 3 tablespoons warm tomato sauce over each centre, leaving edges bare. Top each with 2 ham slices, shredded mozzarella and oregano.
Grill, fry the chips and serve5 min
Slide under the grill 4 to 5 minutes until the cheese melts, bubbles and blisters in spots. Meanwhile fry the chips in oil at 190 °C for 3 minutes until crisp. Serve the milanesas at once with a mountain of hot salted chips.
Grill 4–5 minutes until cheese melts, bubbles and blisters. Meanwhile, fry chips at 190 °C for 3 minutes until crisp. Salt the hot chips and serve immediately with the milanesas.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a huge golden cutlet under a bubbling, blistered mantle of cheese flecked with oregano and red sauce, crisp edges showing.
- Auditory: an energetic crackle as the cutlet enters the fat; a crunch when sliced.
- Olfactory: fried breadcrumbs, toasted garlic, stewed tomato, melted cheese and oregano.
Look for golden cutlets with crisp exposed borders under bubbling, blistered cheese, oregano and tomato sauce. Expect a strong frying crackle and crisp cut, with breadcrumb, garlic, tomato, cheese and oregano aromas.

Troubleshooting

The breading falls off in the oil.: The flour dredge was skipped, the crumbs were not pressed on, or the cutlet went in without resting. Flour, egg, crumb, and rest 10 minutes.
Greasy, soggy cutlet.: The oil was under 170 °C. Hold it at 180 °C and fry one piece at a time.
The whole crust goes soft under the grill.: Sauce was spread to the rim. Leave a 1 cm border of bare crumb.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Beef topside	Top round, veal cutlets or flank pounded thin	One-to-one. Trim all connective tissue and pound to 4 mm
Danbo cheese	Low-moisture mozzarella, fontina or provolone	One-to-one. Melts without shedding water
Fine breadcrumbs	Fine plain dry breadcrumbs	One-to-one. Not panko, which is coarse and untraditional here

Scaling

Half, for 2

Halve everything, fry in one skillet, and grill on a quarter-sheet pan.

Double, for 8

Double the ingredients, fry in succession holding cooked cutlets on a rack in a 90 °C oven, then grill all eight on two sheets at once.

What to serve it with

Twice-cooked chips tossed in fine salt
Ensalada mixta, lettuce, tomato and shaved white onion with oil and vinegar
Cold Patricia lager, or a fruit-driven young Tannat

Questions

Can I make it with chicken?

Yes, that is the suprema napolitana. Pound skinless breasts to 6 mm and fry 3 to 4 minutes a side until they reach 74 °C.

Which cut is best?

Nalga, the topside, is traditional in Uruguay: lean, wide and tender when pounded. Eye of round or sirloin tip also work well.

Can I bake instead of frying?

You can, on an oiled sheet at 220 °C for 12 minutes turning once, but pan-frying in tallow or sunflower oil is what gives the real crust.