Decadent Veal Rollatini with Roasted Peppers, Basil, and Mahón-Menorca Cheese in a Rich Tomato-Olive Sauce
Prepare for an extraordinary culinary experience with this Veal Rollatini, a dish that masterfully combines tender veal, sweet roasted peppers, aromatic basil, and the unique complexity of Mahón-Menorca Cheese. Simmered in a luscious tomato and Kalamata olive sauce and finished with a golden, bubbly cheese topping, this recipe is an indulgence for the senses. Every bite offers a harmonious blend of textures and deep, savory flavors that will leave you utterly speechless. Perfect for a special dinner, it pairs beautifully with your favorite pasta or a crusty Italian bread, ideal for soaking up every last drop of the exquisite sauce.
This is a sponsored post by Mahón-Menorca Cheese, highlighting its exceptional quality and versatility in gourmet cooking.
This exquisite dish marks my third and final entry for the Mahón-Menorca Cheese Bloggers Challenge, submitted proudly in the Main Dishes category. If you’re keen to explore my other innovative recipes featuring this incredible cheese, you can find my appetizer submission here: Pizzette with Garlic Shrimp and Roasted Peppers Pesto, and my delectable side dish submission: Cheesy Pasta Bakes in Individual Ramekins.
This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my disclosure policy HERE.
I received cheese samples from the brand and I may be compensated if I win the challenge.
Veal Rollatini, or Involtini: Elevating Your Home Dining Experience
The culinary world often presents us with delightful linguistic nuances, and this dish is a perfect example. ‘Involtini’ is the traditional Italian term for small, rolled bundles of food, often meat, poultry, or vegetables. While ‘rollatini’ may not be a dictionary-defined Italian word, it has certainly cemented its place in American culinary vernacular, widely understood and embraced. Personally, I find ‘rollatini’ to be a wonderfully descriptive term that perfectly captures the essence of this rolled veal dish. Therefore, I’ve chosen to title this recipe Veal Rollatini.
Rest assured, purists of ‘Involtini’ need not be offended; the name, whether traditional or colloquial, will in no way diminish the sheer pleasure and exquisite taste of this dish. Feel free to use whichever term resonates most with you – the delicious outcome remains the same.
But let’s not get too caught up in semantics; the true star here is the incredible flavor of this veal dish. It’s a symphony of tastes and textures that simply must be experienced. Choosing veal over more common proteins like chicken immediately elevates the meal, lending it a refined, gourmet touch. Veal is not only incredibly tender but also cooks surprisingly quickly, making it an excellent choice for an impressive yet manageable weeknight dinner or a sophisticated weekend gathering.
The magic truly happens when you meticulously stuff these thin veal cutlets with layers of flavor: vibrant, sweet roasted red peppers, fragrant basil leaves, and the star ingredient – a generous helping of exquisitely cured Mahón-Menorca Cheese. These delicate rolls are then gently simmered in a rich, homemade tomato sauce, perfected with the sweet burst of cherry tomatoes, pungent garlic, and the briny depth of Kalamata olives. The careful layering of these ingredients ensures that every forkful is a revelation, a complex interplay of sweet, savory, and aromatic notes.
And the indulgence doesn’t stop there. Just before serving, a final flourish of semi-cured Mahón-Menorca Cheese is sprinkled over the dish and broiled to a golden, bubbling perfection. This last step creates a delightful crust, adding another dimension of texture and an irresistible cheesy aroma. What more could one possibly ask for in a main course?
This recipe marks my fifth creation featuring Mahón-Menorca cheese, and each dish has been an absolute triumph. There’s a distinct reason I keep returning to this exceptional cheese; its versatility is truly astounding. It perfectly complements savory pairings like my Pinwheels with Serrano Ham and Fig Jam, and adds a luxurious touch to a Cheesy Sauce atop a perfectly cooked Ribeye Steak. Its ability to shine in a wide array of recipes, including these three new submissions, speaks volumes about its quality and adaptability in the kitchen.
Essential Ingredients for Crafting Your Veal Rollatini
Let’s dive into the heart of this recipe. Here’s a curated list of the ingredients you’ll need to gather from your local grocery store. For specific retailers carrying Mahón-Menorca Cheese, please refer to the list further down this post. (For a complete recipe including precise measurements, ingredient quantities, and detailed nutritional information, please scroll to the bottom of this article).
- Thin Veal Cutlets: The foundation of our rollatini, chosen for its tenderness and delicate flavor. Pounding them even thinner ensures quick cooking and easy rolling.
- Cured and Semi-Cured Mahón-Menorca Cheese: The star cheese, bringing distinct flavors and textures. The cured variety offers a richer, more developed taste for the filling, while the semi-cured provides a delightful melt for the topping.
- Roasted Peppers: Adding a sweet, smoky depth and beautiful color to the filling. Store-bought or homemade work equally well.
- Fresh Basil: Its vibrant, peppery-sweet aroma is essential, perfectly complementing the veal and cheese.
- Crushed Tomatoes: Forms the rich, robust base of our simmering sauce. Using good quality canned tomatoes makes a significant difference.
- Cherry Tomatoes: These burst in the topping, releasing sweet, concentrated tomato flavor that elevates the sauce.
- Kalamata Olives: Their briny, salty notes provide a wonderful contrast and depth to the tomato sauce.
- Onions: Aromatic foundation for the sauce, cooked until translucent to release their sweetness.
- Garlic: Essential for both the main sauce and the flavorful olive topping, providing a pungent, savory kick.
- Dry Oregano: A classic Italian herb that deepens the savory notes of the tomato sauce.
- Wondra Flour (or All-Purpose Flour): Used for dusting the veal, it helps achieve a beautiful golden-brown crust and slightly thickens the sauce.
- Salt and Pepper: Basic seasonings, crucial for enhancing all the other flavors.
- Sugar: A small amount helps to balance the acidity of the tomatoes in the sauce.
- Cooking Oil (e.g., light Olive Oil or Canola Oil): For browning the veal cutlets, ensuring a flavorful crust.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Used for sautéing the cherry tomatoes, garlic, and olives for the topping, adding a rich, fruity flavor.
- Cooking Twine or Toothpicks: Indispensable for securing the rolled veal bundles during cooking, ensuring they hold their shape.
Simple Steps to Master Veal Rollatini
With all your ingredients prepped and ready, it’s time to embark on the delightful journey of creating this magnificent veal rollatini. Follow these straightforward steps to achieve a truly memorable dish.
Step 1: Prepare the Veal and Cheese. Begin by shredding both the Cured and Semi-Cured Mahón-Menorca Cheeses; having them ready saves time. Next, place your thin veal cutlets between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment paper and gently pound them on both sides using a meat tenderizer or the flat side of a heavy pan. This ensures uniform thickness and tenderness. Season each pounded cutlet generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Step 2: Assemble the Rollatini. Lay a basil leaf flat on top of each seasoned veal cutlet. Then, add a slice or two of roasted pepper, followed by about a tablespoon of the shredded cured Mahón-Menorca cheese. The cured cheese offers a more intense flavor within the core of the rollatini.
Step 3: Roll and Secure. Carefully begin rolling each veal cutlet, starting from one end and moving towards the other, creating a tight bundle. Once rolled, secure each rollatini. You can either skewer them with a sturdy toothpick or, as I prefer for a more secure hold, tie them snugly with kitchen twine. This prevents them from unraveling during cooking and keeps the delicious filling intact.
Step 4: Brown the Veal. Lightly dust each side of the rolled veal cutlets with Wondra flour (or all-purpose flour). Heat the cooking oil in a large, ovenproof skillet (a cast iron pan is ideal for its even heat distribution and ability to go from stovetop to broiler). Brown the rollatini on all sides for a total of approximately 5 minutes, achieving a beautiful golden crust. This step is crucial for developing deep, savory flavors. Remove the browned rollatini from the skillet and set them aside to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, carefully remove the kitchen twine or toothpicks. At this point, the veal should be firm enough to hold its shape without them, and removing them now prevents them from becoming submerged and difficult to remove later in the sauce.
Step 5: Prepare the Tomato Sauce Base. Using the same skillet, add a little more oil if necessary, then add the finely chopped onions. Sauté for a few minutes until they become translucent and fragrant, releasing their sweetness. Stir in the chopped garlic and dry oregano, cooking for just one more minute until aromatic. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, then add the sugar to balance acidity, and season with salt and pepper. Stir well, cover the skillet, and let the sauce simmer gently for 10 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld beautifully.
Step 6: Create the Tomato-Olive Topping. While the main sauce simmers, prepare the flavorful topping. In a separate frying pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook for a minute or two until they soften and slightly burst, releasing their juices. Stir in the remaining chopped garlic and the halved Kalamata olives, cooking for another minute to infuse the flavors. Remove from heat and set aside.
Step 7: Simmer the Veal in Sauce. After the tomato sauce has simmered for 10 minutes, carefully return the browned veal rollatini to the pan, nestling them into the sauce. Cover the skillet again and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, or until the veal is cooked through and tender. During this time, you can gently rotate the rollatini a few times to ensure even cooking and absorption of the sauce. Don’t worry if some cheese escapes the rolls; it will simply melt into and enrich the sauce.
Step 8: Final Cheese Topping and Broiling. Once the veal is fully cooked, taste the sauce and adjust seasonings as needed. Now, spoon the prepared tomato and olive topping over the rollatini. Sprinkle the remaining shredded semi-cured Mahón-Menorca cheese generously over each rollatini. The semi-cured cheese is perfect for this final step as it melts beautifully. Heat your broiler and carefully place the skillet under it for a couple of minutes. Keep a close eye on it until the cheese is gloriously bubbly and golden-brown. This creates an irresistible cheesy crust.
Step 9: Serve and Enjoy! Remove the skillet from the oven. Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh basil for a burst of color and aroma. Serve this decadent Veal Rollatini immediately with your favorite pasta, such as linguine or fettuccine, or with slices of crusty fresh Italian bread perfect for dipping into the rich sauce. A crisp Green Salad would also make a wonderful accompaniment. Prepare for a truly memorable meal!
Essential Kitchen Equipment for Veal Rollatini
Having the right tools makes the cooking process much smoother and more enjoyable. Here’s what you’ll need to successfully prepare your Veal Rollatini:
- Cutting Board: For safely preparing and chopping ingredients.
- Set of Knives: A sharp chef’s knife and a smaller paring knife will be invaluable.
- Meat Tenderizer: Essential for pounding the veal cutlets to the perfect thickness and ensuring tenderness.
- Cast Iron Skillet: Ideal for browning the veal and simmering the sauce, as it can go directly into the oven for broiling. Its excellent heat retention is a bonus.
- Frying Pan: A separate pan is useful for preparing the cherry tomato and olive topping simultaneously.
- Cheese Shredder: For grating the Mahón-Menorca cheese to the desired consistency for both filling and topping.
- Kitchen Twine: Crucial for securing the veal rolls, ensuring they maintain their shape and keep their delicious fillings encased during cooking. Alternatively, toothpicks can be used.
Discovering Mahón-Menorca Cheese: A Culinary Gem
Now, let’s delve deeper into the star ingredient of this dish: Mahón-Menorca Cheese. This exceptional cheese is a product with a Protected Guarantee of Origin (PGO), signifying a profound connection to its geographical roots—the beautiful Balearic island of Menorca. The PGO status ensures that every cheese produced under this designation adheres to strict quality controls and traditional methods, guaranteeing its authenticity and unique character. This cheese is not just an ingredient; it’s a taste of Menorcan heritage.
The character of Mahón-Menorca Cheese gracefully evolves with its age, offering a delightful spectrum of flavors and textures across its different maturities. This versatility allows it to be used in various culinary applications, as brilliantly demonstrated in our Veal Rollatini where both cured and semi-cured varieties play distinct roles.
- TENDER (Tierno): This is the youngest of the Mahón-Menorca cheeses, aged between 21 and 60 days. It boasts a soft, creamy texture and a yellowish-white interior with a very thinly developed crust. Its flavor profile is mild and milky, often with delicate undertones of butter. It’s a fantastic cheese for those who prefer a subtler, fresher taste.
- SEMI-CURED (Semicurado): Aged for 2 to 5 months, the semi-cured variety develops a distinctive and unmistakable character. Its crust takes on a beautiful orange hue, and the cheese itself becomes firm yet remains easy to slice, revealing irregular, small holes. The taste is more pronounced than the tender version, maintaining its milky essence while introducing richer, more developed notes reminiscent of toasted nuts and dried fruit. For our Veal Rollatini, the semi-cured cheese is ideal for the final broiled topping, as it melts beautifully and adds a rich, savory crust.
- CURED (Curado): A true delicacy for discerning cheese connoisseurs, the cured Mahón-Menorca cheese is aged for more than 5 months. Its texture transforms into a firm and hard consistency, becoming less creamy. In its most advanced stages of maturity, it may even flake and break when cut, indicating its intense aging. This cheese offers a highly developed flavor and aroma, presenting a complex, intense, and deeply satisfying taste experience. In our recipe, the cured cheese is used for the stuffing, where its robust flavor holds up wonderfully against the veal and peppers.
There is also a newer, traditional-style cheese made with raw milk, aged for a minimum of 6 months. This particular variety offers an even more complex and intense flavor profile, catering to those who appreciate a truly artisanal cheese experience.
Finding Mahón-Menorca Cheese in the U.S.
Despite its prestigious European origin, Mahón-Menorca Cheese is surprisingly accessible across the United States, making it easy to elevate your cooking. You can readily find all varieties of this exceptional cheese at your local Whole Foods Market. Beyond that, a wide array of other esteemed retailers also proudly stock Mahón-Menorca Cheese, ensuring you can bring a piece of Menorca’s culinary tradition into your kitchen:
- Fairway
- West Side Market
- Gourmet Garage
- Saveway
- Murray’s
- Kroger
- Costco
- Central Markets
- Central
- Town & Country Markets in Seattle
- And numerous other top-tier grocery specialty stores throughout the country.
Veal Rollatini with Roasted Peppers, Basil and Mahón-Menorca Cheese in Tomato Olive Sauce
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Ingredients
Veal Rollatini
- 8 Veal cutlets thin slices
- 1/2 cup Cured Mahón-Menorca Cheese up to 1 cup depending on how much you can place on each cutlet
- 1/2 cup Semi-Cured Mahón-Menorca Cheese up to 1 cup if you want more cheese on top of the meat
- 1/2 cup Roasted Red Peppers cut in slices
- 12 Basil leaves 1 for each cutlet and remaining to sprinkle on finished dish
- 1/3 cup Wondra flour to cover the veal cutlets
- 2 tbsp Cooking Oil to brown the cutlets
Tomato Sauce
- 1 Sweet Onion small to medium size, finely chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- 2 cans Crushed Tomatoes 14 oz each or one large 28 oz. can
- 1/2 teaspoon Dry Oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt up to 1 teaspoon to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
Tomato Olive Topping
- 2 cloves Garlic chopped
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes cut in half
- 1/3 cup Kalamata Olives cut in half
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
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Shred both of your Mahón-Menorca Cheeses. Pound your veal cutlets on both sides until thin and season them with salt and pepper.
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Assemble your rollatini by placing a basil leaf on the top of the cutlet, then adding a slice or two of roasted pepper and topping it with about a tablespoon of shredded, cured Mahón-Menorca cheese.
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Start rolling your rollatini tightly and either skewer them with a toothpick to keep them together or use kitchen twine to wrap them around.
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Dust your veal cutlets with Wondra flour on each side and heat up the cooking oil. Brown the cutlets in an ovenproof skillet (like a cast iron pan) on each side for about 5 minutes in total until golden. Then take them out and set aside. Let them cool slightly and then remove the twine (at this point they will hold really well without the twine and you want to avoid doing it once they are submerged in the sauce).
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To the same skillet, add onions and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Then add 2 chopped garlic cloves and oregano and cook for one more minute until fragrant. Add crushed tomatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper; cover and let cook for 10 minutes, allowing flavors to meld.
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In the meantime, heat up extra virgin olive oil in a separate skillet. Add cut up cherry tomatoes and cook for a minute or two, until they slightly burst. Then add 2 cloves of chopped garlic and cut up olives and cook for another minute. Set aside for topping.
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After the tomato sauce has cooked for about 10 minutes, add the veal back into the pan and cover and cook for another 10 minutes until the veal is cooked through and tender. You can rotate them a few times during this process (Note: some of the cheese from the rollatini may come out but it will stay in the sauce and enrich it, so no worries).
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Once your veal is cooked through, check for seasoning and adjust to your taste. Add the burst cherry tomatoes with olives to the pan and sprinkle shredded semi-cured Mahón-Menorca cheese on top of each rollatini. Heat up your broiler and place the pan under the broiler for a couple of minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and golden.
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Remove from the oven, sprinkle with more fresh basil for garnish, and serve immediately with your favorite pasta or fresh bread to savor all the delicious sauce. Enjoy!
Nutrition
This post is proudly sponsored by Mahón-Menorca Cheese. Stay connected and discover more delectable recipes by following Mahón-Menorca on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Learn more about the author, Edyta, here. You can also follow Eating European on social media for more culinary inspiration: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.