Njeguški steak

Ingredients

• Pork loin — in thick pieces800 g
• Njeguši prosciutto150 g
• Njeguši or kashkaval cheese200 g
• Eggs3
• Flour100 g
• Breadcrumbs250 g
• Oil for frying300 ml
• Potatoes — to serve800 g
• Lemon1
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Cut each piece along its length, stopping short of the far edge, and open it like a book.

   12 min

2. 2

   Beat the opened meat lightly under film and season the inside.

   8 min

3. 3

   Lay in a slice of prosciutto and a slab of cheese, close it and press the edges together.

   8 min

4. 4

   Coat in flour, egg and crumbs, then repeat the egg and crumbs a second time.

   12 min

5. 5

   Chill for twenty minutes; the coating sets and will not slide off in the pan.

   22 min

6. 6

   Fry over medium heat, six minutes a side, to a deep gold.

   15 min

7. 7

   Drain on a rack, rest it five minutes and serve with fried potatoes and lemon.

   10 min

About the dish

Njeguši is a mountain village above Kotor where prosciutto is dried in air coming off the sea and the mountains at once. That ham gives the dish its name.

The pocket is cut along the chop without going through. One hole in the wall and the cheese runs into the oil in the first thirty seconds.

The breading has to be double: egg, crumbs, egg again, crumbs again. A single coat splits at the seam under the pressure of the melting cheese.

Worth knowing

• — Keep the heat medium. On a high one the breading darkens in three minutes while the meat inside stays raw.
• — The prosciutto inside is salty already. Season the meat sparingly, or the dish comes out oversalted.
• — Do not cut it straight away: all the cheese runs out. Five minutes' rest thickens it enough to stay inside.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

820 kcal

Protein

54 g

Fat

48 g

Carbs

44 g

More from Montenegro

• Kačamak — Maize porridge with potato, beaten with cheese and kajmak until it pulls into threads.