Veal Pocket Stuffed with Mushrooms & Bread
Veal Pocket Stuffed with Mushrooms is a very popular main dish in Italy; it is perfect to serve at dinners and special occasions.
Don’t be scared by the title, making this recipe is very simple and once you’ll see how easy is to make it and how pretty it looks on the table, I promise you, you will make it many, many times because oh…well, it happens to be insanely delicious too!
Veal Pocket, what is?
This dish is prepared using veal meat cut in a whole piece called tasca (pocket). The full name in italian is: Tasca di Vitello Ripiena di Funghi.
The pocket is made on purpose to contain various fillings, such as vegetables, meat, bread, cheese, etc.
You need to ask to the butcher to cut it that way or you can also buy it at the supermarkets already cut (look for pocket veal).
If you can’t find this type of cut don’t worry, you can still make the recipe using veal breast, you just need to close the meat using kitchen twine, like if you’re making a roast.
The filling
For the filling we propose to use mixed mushrooms, such as champignon, porcini, shiitakes, etc; as well as Provola cheese that will add a particular flavour touch to this dish.
You can choose only one type of mushrooms but try to add them fresh for more flavour, but, if mushrooms are not in season you can also use dried which you have first to soak them a bit in warm water before proceeding to cook.
At last, you can also use frozen mushrooms but avoid at any cost the canned type because their flavour is not really that good and most of the time they’re preserved in oil or vinegar, which add a weird taste to the dish.
For a particular aroma, we advise you to skip for this time the classic rosemary that is used in many roasted meat dishes and use juniper berries (ginepro, in italian). The aroma that release during cooking is exquisite!
Make it ahead of time
This recipe can be made up to three days in advance. Once the stuffed veal pocket is cooked, wrap it in aluminum foil and let it cool completely.
The next step is to put it in the refrigerator until it is time to consume it (not more than 3 days).
To serve it, you can first cut it into slices and then place it in a oven-proof dish in the oven to reheat it, well covered with aluminum foil so it does not dry out.
Veal Pocket Stuffed Recipe
The ingredient list can be found below in the recipe card.
Put the bread to soak in a bowl with half of the meat stock. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into small pieces. Finely chop the onion along with the garlic.
In a frying pan, heat a little oil and add the mushrooms and garlic, fry over moderate heat until the mushrooms are tender and almost all the liquid has been consumed. Placet in a bowl and let the mixture cool.
Drain the bread well and squeeze it with your hands very tight, to get rid of all liquid. Crumble it with your fingers in the bowl with the mushrooms and add the parmigiano, the breadcrumbs, the chopped parsley, the nutmeg and salt and pepper. Mix very well with a fork.
Add the egg, the Provola cheese and mix perfectly until everything is combined.
Wash the meat, pat dry it with paper and season with salt and pepper on all sides. Fill the veal pocket with the mushroom mixture perfectly pressing with your hands so that the filling pack pretty well inside.
Tie or sew the pocket opening with thread and place it in a baking dish.
Add a little olive oil and the juniper berries (if you want a more intense aroma, crush some berries). Then add the bay leaves.
Heat the oven to 430 ° F / 220 ° C and put the veal pocket inside. Cook for 20 minutes and then add the wine pouring it over the meat. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
Lower the oven temperature to 320 ° F / 160 ° C and continue baking for two hours, occasionally basting the meat with the remaining meat stock. Turn over the meat at least once to allow to brown evenly.
Let the meat cool and then cut it into slices, cover with aluminum foil so that it does not dry out and just right before serving it, heat it slightly in the oven.
What to serve with this dish
Veal Pocket Stuffed with Mushrooms & Bread
Ingredients
- 700 gr veal meat (cut into a pocket)
- 500 gr mixed fresh mushrooms (any kind you prefer)
- 60 gr Provola cheese (grated)
- 80 gr white bread (cut into small pieces)
- 50 gr italian breadcrumbs
- 40 gr Parmigiano cheese (grated)
- 100 gr onions
- 1 small egg
- 1 glass (200ml white wine)
- 1 ½ lt meat stock
- Parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 garlic clove (peeled)
- Juniper berries
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- Extravirgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Put the bread to soak in a bowl with half of the meat stock. Clean the mushrooms and cut them into small pieces. Finely chop the onion along with the garlic.
- In a frying pan, heat a little oil and add the mushrooms and garlic, fry over moderate heat until the mushrooms are tender and almost all the liquid has been consumed. Placet in a bowl and let the mixture cool.
- Drain the bread well and squeeze it with your hands very tight, to get rid of all liquid. Crumble it with your fingers in the bowl with the mushrooms and add the parmigiano, the breadcrumbs, the chopped parsley, the nutmeg and salt and pepper. Mix very well with a fork.
- Add the egg, the Provola cheese and mix perfectly until everything is combined.
- Wash the meat, pat dry it with paper and season with salt and pepper on all sides. Fill the veal pocket with the mushroom mixture perfectly pressing with your hands so that the filling pack pretty well inside.
- Tie or sew the pocket opening with thread and place it in a baking dish.
- Add a little olive oil and the juniper berries (if you want a more intense aroma, crush some berries). Then add the bay leaves.
- Heat the oven to 430 ° F / 220 ° C and put the veal pocket inside. Cook for 20 minutes and then add the wine pouring it over the meat. Continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 320 ° F / 160 ° C and continue baking for two hours, occasionally basting the meat with the remaining meat stock. Turn over the meat at least once to allow to brown evenly.
- Let the meat cool and then cut it into slices, cover with aluminum foil so that it does not dry out and just right before serving it, heat it slightly in the oven.
Veal Pocket Stuffed with Mushrooms is a dish that used to intimidate me so much. Looking at videos of them preparing it made me question if I can do it right, good thing I saw your recipe. Thank you for adding guides and tips for us! Mine turned out amazing :)