Veal Stuffed with Garlic, Pistachio and Sage

A few weeks ago I read a couple of interesting entries at Helen Graves' Food Stories and Eating Asia on pistachio-stuffed meats. They looked so good and appetizing that I knew I had to try it out. Unfortunately, when I went to the Farmer Market over the weekend, they did not have any pork or lamb meat with the skin (crackling) on so I decided just to get a veal cross rib since it looked pretty good to me and it was reasonably priced. I used both of their recipes as a guide for my Veal Stuffed with Garlic, Pistachio and Sage.


Ingredients:
4 lb of veal cross rib (or pork with skins or lamb saddle)
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
12 leaves of sage, finely minced
1/4 cup of pistachio, roughly chopped
2 tablespoon of butter, soften
salt, pepper and olive oil
1/4 cup of dry vermouth (or dry white wine)

Directions:

• Wash, dry and butterfly the veal
• Season liberally with salt and pepper and let it marinade overnight
• Heat the oven to 375F
• Roll out the meat and put the rest of the seasonings (garlic, sage, pistachio and butter)
• Roll it up again and tie with kitchen string
• Rub the outside of the meat with 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil
• Bake the meat for 30 minutes in the oven, uncovered
• Pour in the vermouth, cover loosely with aluminum foil and cook some more at 350F for 15-20 minutes until the meat is done
• Let it rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting