Pork Saltimbocca with White Wine Sauce

Serve it up by giving everyone some pasta and three pork cutlets per plate topped with a nice spoonful of your white wine sauce. Don't forget to tell them about the toothpick!

Place a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring it to a boil for your pasta. Pour the heavy cream and lemon zest into a small pot and place it over medium heat. Bring the cream up to a bubble, then reduce the heat and simmer it until thickened, about 10 minutes.

While the cream is reducing, prepare the pork cutlets by cutting the tenderloin into 12 equal pieces. Place the pieces, one or two at a time, into a zipper lock plastic bag with a splash of water. Pound them out with a meat mallet or small cast iron skillet until they're about a quarter-inch thick (just eyeball it).

Once all of the pork is pounded out, assemble the saltimbocca by laying a half slice of prosciutto and one sage leaf onto each pork cutlet. Stick everything together with a toothpick by poking down through the top then back up from the bottom, like youre putting a pin through fabric. Season both sides of each portion with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

With all of your pork assembled, place a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. Cook the cutlets until lightly golden and cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Pour the white wine into the pan and continue cooking for about 2 minutes more.

While the pork cooks in the wine, combine the butter and flour in a small dish, stirring it together with a spoon. After cooking for a couple of minutes, remove the pork to a plate and add the butter-flour mixture to the pan, whisking to combine it. Cook the sauce until thickened up, 2-3 minutes, then remove it from the heat.

Once you've added the butter-flour mixture to the pan, drop the fresh pasta into the boiling water and cook to al dente according to package directions. When you've got about a minute of cooking time left on the pasta, drop the asparagus tips into the water as well so they get some time to cook up.

When the pasta's ready, drain it and the asparagus and combine them with the reduced cream and the lemon juice, basil, and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, giving it a nice turn to coat it.

Serve it up by giving everyone some pasta and three pork cutlets per plate topped with a nice spoonful of your white wine sauce. Don't forget to tell them about the toothpick!