Meat mains
Pork escalopes and genoese potatoes with capers, lemon and parsley
This is a quick version of Genoese potatoes. Traditionally it's an oven-baked dish of potatoes, mushrooms and garlic. For our recipe box slow-cooked dishes aren't the order of the day, so we've beefed up the savoury mushroom taste by adding soaked, dried mushrooms and their soaking liquor. This creates a quicker version, with just as much flavour.
Cook's notes
The pork is a classic breaded escalope, topped with fresh and tangy parsley and lemon. The same thing can be done with thinly bashed out chicken breast, turkey or beef escalopes.
Ingredients
- 10g dried mushrooms
- 1 tbsp capers
- 400g salad potatoes
- 200g mushrooms
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
- 15g parsley
- 1 lemon
- 25g plain flour
- 1 egg
- 100g dried breadcrumbs
- 4 pork escalopes
- oil for frying e.g. sunflower or light olive
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Boil a kettle of water. Put the dried mushrooms in a heatproof bowl. Pour over enough boiled water to cover them. Leave them to soak until needed. Put the capers in a separate bowl and cover with cold water.
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Step 2
Wash and thinly slice the potatoes lengthways, about 1cm thick (there's no need to peel them). Put them in a pan. Cover with the left over boiled water. Top up from the tap if needs be. Add a good couple of pinches of salt to the pan. Heat until boiling, then cook until the potatoes are just tender, 5-7 minutes. Drain once cooked.
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Step 3
Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms with a damp piece of kitchen paper or clean cloth. Thinly slice them. Peel and finely chop or crush 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves.
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Step 4
Wash the parsley. Shake or pat dry with kitchen paper. Chop the leaves. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the capers and finely chop them. Transfer to a small bowl. Add the parsley. Finely zest enough of the lemon rind so you have 1 teaspoon worth and add that.
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Step 5
Season with a little salt and pepper. Keep to one side.
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Step 6
Take 3 shallow dishes. Put the flour in one, crack and beat the egg in another and put the breadcrumbs in the third, mixed with a little salt and pepper. Dip the pork first in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs to coat.
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Step 7
Put your oven on to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Heat a thin layer of oil in a frying pan. Add the pork escalopes. Fry on a medium-high heat until golden on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking tray and keep warm in the oven. Wipe out the frying pan.
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Step 8
Add a splash more oil and the mushrooms. Fry them for 3 minutes, then add the potatoes and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, until the mushrooms have softened. Add the garlic. Stir for 1 minute. Add the dried mushrooms and their soaking liquor. Cook the mixture down until the liquor has almost all gone. Remove from the heat.
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Step 9
Serve the mushrooms and potatoes with the escalopes. Sprinkle over the chopped capers, parsley and lemon. You can also serve with an extra wedge of lemon on the plate if you like.
