Some of the most memorable and delicious dishes are the ones that revel in simplicity. As much as completion of a difficult culinary feat can be rewarding, there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of amazing flavor growing out of relaxing ease.
This works two-fold for recipes that require minimal, basic ingredients., like Lamb Hunter-Style from Biba's Italy. Making this dish is an absolute treat because it takes less effort than some of my more oft-made meals. There's just a little chopping, searing, and sauteing before the whole thing gets put in the oven to roast. What comes out is the juicy meat you see above -- meat so tender that it's falling off the bone and melting as it hits the tongue.
The adapted recipe is after the jump.
Lamb Hunter-Style
serves 4-6
The recipe suggests using the youngest lamb possible. This meal is adapted from a meal of made with abbacchio -- baby lamb that has not yet eaten grass. It also asks for boneless, fat-trimmed chunks of lamb, which was changed for this recipe.
Ingredients:1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 pounds of lamb shoulder
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2-3 tablespoons of finely chopped rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh red chili pepper, chopped dried chilis, or crushed flakes to taste
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1/4 cup good quality red wine vinegar
Preheat oven to 325.
- Heat oil in ovenproof pot (Creuset!) over medium-high heat. Brown lamb without crowding and season with salt. When the meat is lightly golden (5-6 minutes), transfer to a plate.
- Discard some of the fat and then add the anchovies, garlic, rosemary, and chili to the pan. Stir while it cooks for 1-2 minutes.
- Put the lamb back in, toss to coat, add the wine and vinegar, and bring to a simmer.
- Cover the pot and let it roast in the oven until meat is tender enough to cut with a fork -- approximately 1 1/2-2 hours.
- There should be just enough sauce to cover the meat. If it's too much, reduce the sauce over high heat. It will reduce quickly.
- Season and serve.
- I minced one dried chili, but there was no heat to the dish. If you want that bite, add a good amount of chili.
- I only had a third of the meat, so I cut back a bit on the sauce by using only 3 anchovies. There was no distinct anchovy taste.
- Definitely check out Biba's Italy -- it contains a lot of great notes on abbacchio, as well as where the dish came from.
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