Saltimbocca - Spanish Style!

Saltimbocca (Italian for 'jumps in the mouth') is a traditional Italian recipe made using veal fillets and topped with proscuttio.

In southern Spain, pork is far easier to source than veal and our local cured ham is Serrano so I have devised my own version of the recipe 'Spanish style'!

Here I have served it with sautéed potatoes, oven-baked cherry tomatoes and mixed peas and sweetcorn.

First take your pork - I'm using steaks here though medallions cut from a tenderloin are very good. Give the meat a gentle bashing using a rolling pin or a washed wine bottle to flatten it, don't hit it too hard though - you don't want to tear the meat!

Now place a slice of ham on each steak and a couple of sage leaves on top of the ham then use a cocktail stick through each sage leaf to keep it all in place.

Heat some butter in a pan with a little olive oil added to stop it burning and when it is sizzling hot put the meat in sage side down until the ham is crispy and golden brown, turn the meat over and cook for another few minutes.

Now you need to add some wine - marsala if you have it - or I simply use dry white wine and sprinkle a little sugar in and let it reduce down to a syrupy consistency. Remove the meat from the pan and add a knob of butter to the sauce whisking it in so that it takes on a glossy appearance.

Serve the pork on warm plates with the sauce spooned over and accompanied with sautéed potatoes, mixed sweetcorn and peas and oven baked cherry tomatoes.