This week’s Regional Italian recipe takes us to Friuli – Venezia Giulia, Italy’s most North-Eastern region that borders with Austria and Slovenia. This region has been a part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire for many years and thus has many cultural and culinary similarities with the other regions and Nations of the area. It is a region that puts together the historically-geographical region of Friuli and that of Venezia Giulia, each with its own history, traditions and identity. This specific recipe is from Friuli. It is a very easy meat dish and even though it is made with pork, it is quite light as it uses the lean parts of pork (either the fillet or the loin). The milk makes the meat soft and juicy and the sauce is delicate and delicious. It is a great Sunday lunch idea and it can be served with a side of baked potatoes with garlic and rosemary and a green salad. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Recipe adapted from Butta la Pasta
Ingredients:
1 kg – 2.2 lbs pork fillet or pork loin
1 big onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 sage leaves
1 tsp rosemary
1 lt hot full cream milk – 4 ¼ cups
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Put the butter, onion, bay leaf, rosemary and sage in a pot and cook it on a low fire until the onion is just soft.
Then add the pork fillet and brown it well on all sides.
Season with salt and pepper and add the hot milk. Bring to a boil, then lower the flame to the minimum, cover and let it cook for 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the thickness of the pork fillet.
When the pork is cooked, let it cool down and then cut it in thick slices (2.5 cm – 1 inch).
Serve it warm with the sieved sauce (or, if you like a thicker sauce, like me, blend the sauce with a hand mixer after removing the bay leaf).
For a list of all the Regional Italian dishes already published, click here.
The pork is looks so tender and juicy manus! and I just want to lick the sauce! Upps!

Tq fr sharing this simple but indeed delish recipe!
Love the preparation method here, it conquers the dry tenderloin issue that I always seem to have. I think I presently only have one recipe that is acceptable…make that two now! The gravy is also a delicious topper. Thanks for posting this one!
tender, juicy and love the way you’ve presented it!
Beautiful dish, Manu! I love this new (to me) technique of cooking in milk…I know the meat is both tender and succulent. YUM!
Wow, that looks amazingly delicious! I don’t think I’ve ever had anything similar, but looks like I definitely should try.
I love “maiale al latte”… it comes out so tender!!
What an incredible recipe, this looks absolutely delicious!
Great recipe. I would never have imagined cooking a pork tenderloin this way. Can’t wait to try this, I bet it’s delicious.
Mmmm.. that’s one delicious, gourmet meal. I miss grape and fancy tomatoes!
Beeeeeuuuutiful photos, Manu, and a gorgeous dish. It took a while for me to be convinced that cooking meat in milk was a good idea but wow! I am convinced now.
My husband’s favorite dish is pork loin — I’ll have to surprise him with this. Beautiful photos!
Using hot milk is something I would’ve never thought of. Thankfully you did. Can’t wait to try this.
What a creative and lovely way to cook pork – the sauce is making me wish I had some good crusty bread to sop it up with
This looks so yummy!
That looks amazing. Whenever I try to cook roasts in milk, it has sort of curdled. So it tastes ok but it looks quite unappetizing and the texture of the sauce cannot even be compared to yours. I will try this.
It can happen! But if you blend the sauce at the end… you get a smoother texture and it looks much better
Hope you have a great weekend!
Will try Manu’s solution. It looks like a grat idea, but I had never thought about it before!
I was just going to say the same thing! Glad to hear I’m not the only one with this problem!
Manu, this looks absolutely delicious. I’m always looking for pork fillet recipes and this one is super juicy. Love the background you’ve given to it and the idea of pairing with the baked garlic rosemary potatoes is fabulous!
Mmmmm this looks delicious! Again, I love this series. I remember visiting Milan and being struck by how much of the food was so Austrian. Can’t wait to try this.
mmm I would eat this in a second, Manu! I love this kind of dishes…and creamy milky sauce is yummy! Thanks for sharing and wishing you awesome weekend!!!!
Cooking pork in milk make it tender and juicy, right? This recipe is fantastic Manu…!!!
Interesting pork cooked in hot milk recipe! I’ve cooked lots of different pork recipes but had never come across any recipes in full cream milk. I must try this yummy looking dish soon!
What a lovely name! Thks for introducing us to this wonderful dish! Yummy
Have a great week, dear!
Shirley’s Luxury Haven
This is quite different! When you mentioned milk I thought a milk gravy at the end, not a milk braise. I love it! I also like the simplicity of this recipe and the fact that you can use pork tenderloin – something I always have in the freezer. It’s bookmarked!
Manu, once the pork is finished cooking, will the milk have turned into gravy? Or is that something you did with, say, the liquid in the pan and some cornstarch to thicken it? This looks so so so good. My husband’s background is from Friuli and I want to surprise him with it!!!
Hi Cristy! When the pork is done, you will have a sauce that might have curdled a bit. So you can either sieve it or, if you like a thicker sauce, like me, blend ot with a hand mixer after removing the bay leaf. Let me know how you go!! :-)))))
you can cook this way the chicken too, it’s delicious, but to the chicken I put only ground black pepper instead of the other spices.