Veal Patties

Veal is lean meat; if we want to keep it moist and tender, we must keep in mind its lack of fat. This is particularly important when dealing with ground veal, which can dry out even faster than a solid piece. The surest way to produce a juicy veal patty is to bread it and fry it quickly over fairly high heat, and this is the method common to this recipe and the one that follows. That similarity aside, the two dishes are quite different.

For the first one, I sauté diced pepper and scallions and combine them with the ground veal, adding egg, grated Parmesan, and hot milk-soaked bread. Once the patties are breaded and fried, I braise them in tomato, simmering the tomato down to the density of sauce. To make the most of the sauce, I would serve them with lightly grilled crusty bread or, if there is no first course, with rice pilaf.