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Veal, Neapolitan Turnovers of

A pastry turnover filled with seasoned veal and ham, served with a savory gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 21 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Veal, Neapolitan Turnovers of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Cut the veal and ham into thin slices and mince finely.

  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the shallot and parsley until fragrant.

  3. Drain and combine in a mortar with the minced meat, Parmesan, cayenne, nutmeg, and white pepper.

  4. Pound the mixture and gradually add the stock, sherry, essence of anchovy, and beaten egg.

Shape and boil

  1. Roll out the pastry to ⅛ inch thick and cut into 3-inch squares.

  2. Place a spoonful of the meat mixture on one corner of each square, fold over, moisten edges with beaten egg, and press to seal.

  3. Boil a quart of water with salt, then drop in the turnovers and simmer for 5 minutes.

  4. Drain and place in a dish.

Make the gravy and serve

  1. Prepare stock by simmering veal bones, carrot, onion, herbs, and water, then strain and skim fat.

  2. In a saucepan, combine ½ pint stock, light wine, Parmesan, butter, ketchup, mustard, and essence of anchovy, and stir over heat for 5 minutes.

  3. Pour the gravy over the turnovers and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Shallot + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,019 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cooked veal
Forms the main savoury filling, giving the turnovers their meaty body.
Butter
Adds richness and carries the flavour of the shallot and parsley in the filling.
Parmesan
Adds salty, savoury depth to the filling and sauce, and helps brown the cheese topping.
Egg
Binds the filling and, brushed on the edges, seals the pastry so it stays closed.
Pastry
Encloses the filling so the turnovers hold their shape during boiling.

The step that matters

Sealing the turnovers. If the edges are not moistened with beaten egg and pressed firmly, they can open during boiling and let the filling escape into the water.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, butter, shallot, parsley, pepper, nutmeg):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, butter, shallot, parsley, pepper, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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