Cotoletta alla bolognese
Photo: WILO-MA · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

The Bolognese cotoletta emerged in the 19th-century kitchens of the Emilian bourgeoisie as a richer cousin to the Milanese veal escalope. The Accademia Italiana della Cucina deposited the legal recipe with the Camera di Commercio of Bologna on 14 October 2004: a breaded veal cutlet, topped with prosciutto crudo di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano 24-month, finished in the oven with a glaze of meat broth and butter, never with tomato. The 2004 deposit was a direct response to tourist menus passing off a tomato-and-mozzarella veal milanese as bolognese. Trattoria Anna Maria, Diana, Da Cesari and Trattoria di Via Serra all serve the canonical baked version.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 2Hands-on 25 minTotal 40 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 2 veal escalopes (about 150g each), pounded to 5mm
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 60g fine breadcrumbs
  • 30g unsalted butter, plus 20g for the glaze
  • 4 slices prosciutto di Parma
  • 60g Parmigiano Reggiano 24-month, shaved with a peeler
  • 150ml warm beef stock
  • Sea salt, black pepper

Method

  1. Season the escalopes. Dip each in the beaten egg, then press firmly into the breadcrumbs to coat both sides.
  2. Melt 30g butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Fry the cutlets 90 seconds per side until golden. Transfer to a buttered baking dish.
  3. Top each cutlet with 2 slices of prosciutto, then a generous layer of Parmigiano shavings.
  4. Heat the oven to 200C/400F. Drizzle the warm stock around (not over) the cutlets and dot with the remaining butter.
  5. Bake 6 to 8 minutes until the Parmigiano melts and the stock glazes the breaded edge. The cheese should be golden but not browned.
  6. Serve immediately on warm plates with a spoonful of the pan glaze.

Tip from the editors. Pound the veal thin; a 5mm escalope cooks in the timing the cheese needs to melt. Never add tomato; that is the Milanese version, not bolognese.

Where to eat cotoletta alla bolognese

Cotoletta alla bolognese in Bologna

Trattoria Anna Maria ★ 4.6

€€ ItalianUniversita

Trattoria Anna Maria in Bologna near Via Zamboni is the city's most-photographed sfoglia trattoria, run by Anna Maria Monari since 1985 with hand-rolled.

OrderTagliatelle al ragu, tortellini in brodo, lasagne verdi, gnocco fritto.

TipBook a week ahead for dinner. Lunch is calmer and the sfogline still hand-roll pasta in the window between services.

Directions Book

Da Cesari ★ 4.4

€€ Bolognese TrattoriaCentro Storico

Da Cesari in Bologna's Centro Storico is the four-generation Carati family trattoria, operating since 1955, a steady room for the canonical Bolognese carte.

OrderTagliatelle al ragu, cotoletta alla bolognese, friggione on the side.

TipBook a fortnight ahead by phone; the family carte does not change and the wine cellar is run by Massimiliano Carati personally.

Directions

Trattoria di Via Serra ★ 4.7

€€ Italian

Trattoria di Via Serra (Italian) in Bologna: Book three weeks ahead online; lunch is the easier seating and the kitchen runs the same carte at both meals.

Why locals goBolognina's quiet, neighbourhood-scaled trattoria; the tagliatelle al ragu is the city's most-cited by editors but tourists never wander north of the station.

TipBook three weeks ahead online; lunch is the easier seating and the kitchen runs the same carte at both meals.

Directions

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