Signature · about 2 hours · Serves 4
Milanesa napolitana 2.0 with double-cooked roast potatoes
Illustrative image generated with AI, not a photo of the cooked dish.
Kitchen test pending
The Argentine milanesa napolitana, a breaded beef cutlet with tomato sauce, ham and broiled mozzarella, with roast potatoes. The dish keeps its traditional identity, with all the layers in view, and aims for juicy meat under a very crisp breading.
The twist lies in accessible fine-dining techniques. The meat goes through a short brine that improves seasoning and juiciness; the breading combines panko, Parmesan and Dijon mustard; the sauce is reduced until concentrated and mounted with butter for shine, and the ham is added only at the end, in folds, with crisp chips of the same ham. The potatoes get a double cook: a short boil with baking soda that roughens the surface, and a hard roast on a hot tray, for a creamy interior and a very crisp crust.
Special equipment: frying thermometer; rack; thick metal baking sheet
Ingredients
Meat and brine
- 4 beef cutlets from top round, knuckle or eye of round (nalga, cuadrada or bola de lomo), 180–200 g and 8–12 mm thick
- 1 liter cold water
- 30 g fine salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Napolitana sauce
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 800 g canned plum tomatoes, lightly crushed
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt and black pepper
- 30 g cold butter
Double-cooked potatoes
- 1 kg potatoes, in thick wedges or 3–4 cm pieces of the same size
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Coarse salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, or 2 of clarified beef fat for a more intense result
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 rosemary sprig
- Finely grated zest of ½ lemon, flaky salt and black pepper
Ham chips
- 4 thin slices of cooked ham, taken from the topping ham
Breading and frying
- 80 g all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 30 g Dijon mustard
- 40 g finely grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 240 g panko, or 160 g panko and 80 g fine breadcrumbs for a more compact breading
- 1.2–1.4 liters neutral oil: sunflower, corn or refined peanut
Topping
- 360–400 g fior di latte mozzarella
- 80 g provolone, coarsely grated
- 160–200 g artisanal cooked ham
- 8–12 small fresh basil leaves
Finishing
- Micro basil or small basil leaves
- Small fresh rosemary leaves
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Balsamic vinegar reduction, optional
Method
Meat and brine
- Evening out. Remove sinews and excess fat. If the cutlets are of uneven thickness, gently pound them between two sheets of parchment paper to an even 8–10 mm: very thin, they lose juiciness in the frying.
- Brine. Dissolve the salt in the cold water, submerge the meat and leave it in the refrigerator 25–30 minutes. Remove, pat perfectly dry with paper towels and keep cold: the surface must be dry before breading.
Napolitana sauce
- Reduction. Heat the oil in a small saucepan and cook the garlic 30–40 seconds, without browning. Add the tomato, bay leaves, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper and cook over medium-low heat 15–20 minutes, to a concentrated texture, never watery. Remove the bay leaves.
- Mounting. Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter vigorously: it gives shine, a silkier texture and a rounder flavor. Keep hot.
Double-cooked potatoes
- First cook. Boil plenty of water with salt and the baking soda and cook the potatoes 7–9 minutes, until partly cooked: the center resists and the surface begins to soften. The baking soda makes the water alkaline and breaks down the pectins on the surface, which forms a layer of starch and potato fragments; in the oven, that layer loses moisture and becomes a very crisp crust.
- Roughening. Drain them and shake the pot 10–15 seconds, until the surface is rough, starchy and irregular.
- Roasting. Preheat the oven to 220 °C (430 °F) with a metal tray inside. Toss the potatoes with the oil or fat, garlic and rosemary and spread them on the hot tray, separated. Bake 25–35 minutes, turning them at 15, to an intense, even gold. As they come out, add the lemon zest, flaky salt and pepper. Keep hot.
Ham chips
- Drying. Bake the 4 slices between two sheets of parchment paper, with a light tray on top, at 120–130 °C (250–265 °F) for 12–18 minutes, until dry; as they cool they become crisp.
Breading and frying
- Breading. Set up three containers: the flour; the eggs beaten with the mustard, Parmesan and parsley, and the panko. Pass each cutlet through flour, through the egg mixture and through the panko, pressing for an even coating. Leave them on a rack in the refrigerator 10–15 minutes.
- Frying. Heat 1–1.5 cm of oil in a wide pan to 165–170 °C (329–338 °F). Fry each milanesa, laying it down away from you, 1½–2 minutes per side, until golden, crisp and even. Do not exceed 175 °C (347 °F), because the panko browns before the meat is cooked. Remove them right away to a rack.
Topping
- Broiling. Raise the oven to 230 °C (445 °F). Cover each milanesa with a thin layer of sauce, the mozzarella in slices of 4–5 mm —drained 20 minutes on paper towels if very wet— and the provolone. Bake 3–5 minutes, until the cheese is melted with some golden areas: fast, so the breading does not lose crispness.
- Ham. Heat the remaining ham slices 10–15 seconds in a dry pan and arrange them over the cheese in natural folds. Add the basil leaves.
Finishing
- At serving. Add pepper, a few fragments of ham chips and drops of olive oil. If using the balsamic reduction, apply it very sparingly around, never over the breading.
The dish
Use wide plates of matte black ceramic, stone or dark stoneware. Place the milanesa slightly off center, without filling the whole plate, with part of the crisp edge in view and the layers visible: golden breading, red sauce, broiled mozzarella and ham in folds. Group 5–7 potatoes to the side, some resting on others, with the irregular, golden surface up. Finish with micro basil, ham chips, flaky salt, lemon zest and small rosemary leaves. Final look: a golden, crisp edge, the red, white and pink topping with green dots, and the rough, golden potatoes alongside.
Key points
- Even out the cutlets to 8–10 mm, no thinner, and dry them very well after the brine.
- Shake the potatoes after boiling: the rough surface is what turns crisp.
- Fry between 165 and 170 °C (329–338 °F), without exceeding 175 °C (347 °F).
- Broil fast, with the oven very hot, so as not to soften the breading.
- Add the ham at the end, so it does not dry out.
Pairing
A young high-altitude Malbec from the Calchaquí Valley, served at 15–16 °C (59–61 °F): its fruit, acidity and moderate tannins go with the meat, tomato, cheese and frying. In white, a dry Torrontés at 8–10 °C (46–50 °F). Without alcohol, very cold soda with lemon peel, basil and ice.
Notes
- The original recipe was designed for 2 servings; this version doubles all the quantities.