Saltimbocca

Saltimbocca alla romana is Roman, codified in the late 19th century — Pellegrino Artusi's 1891 cookbook (recipe 222) describes a near-identical dish and titles it "Saltimbocca alla romana" — i.e. Artusi himself calls it Roman; the Brescian-origin attribution comes from later culinary tradition, not from Artusi. By the early 20th century it was firmly Roman trattoria fare, the prosciutto-sage-veal stack standardized. Variants in Brescia and Switzerland sometimes roll the cutlet around the ham; the Roman version stays flat, prosciutto facing up.

Rome's "jumps in the mouth" — veal cutlet, prosciutto, sage leaf, all pinned together with a toothpick. The pan deglaze with Marsala (or white wine) is the only sauce required.

A thin veal cutlet with a slice of prosciutto pinned to the top by a sage leaf, all held with a toothpick. Pan-fried in butter until the prosciutto crisps and the sage darkens. A glaze of white wine and butter pools around it. Salty from the cured ham, herbal from the sage, the veal almost neutral underneath. Two bites per piece. Name means "jumps in the mouth."

The cutlet must be pounded to about 3mm — any thicker and it doesn't cook through before the prosciutto burns. Cook prosciutto-side down first for 30 seconds (so the sage adheres into the seared meat), then flip and finish veal-side. Don't season the veal with salt — the prosciutto provides all of it; salting twice gives a brine bomb.