Biba's Northern Italian Cooking - Biba Caggiano [45]
In many other countries, lamb goes to market a little older, at seven to eight months. It is still good at that age with a darker and well-marbled meat. As lamb gets older it becomes mutton. A whole leg of lamb should weigh four to six pounds. If it exceeds nine pounds, you are probably buying mutton.
Lamb can provide some extremely elegant dishes. Rack of lamb roasted with a tasty bread crumb coating is a treat for eye and palate. Lamb chops dipped in eggs, then coated with a Parmesan cheese and bread crumb mixture, are unbelievably succulent. A whole leg of lamb braised in a tomato-based mixture prompted one of my students to claim that although he was born and raised on a ranch and had eaten lamb all his life, this was the best he had ever tasted.
Some less expensive cuts of lamb can give you equally delicious dishes. For skewered lamb, either the leg or the shoulder can be used. For stewed lamb, the shoulder is your best bet.
Italians eat a considerable amount of pork, mostly in the form of sausage and ham. There are many dishes in northern Italian cuisine in which pork is barely visible but is vital to flavor. Pancetta, for example, plays a subtle but important role in cooking. Prosciutto, a sweet and delicate unsmoked ham, is eaten alone or as a topping or stuffing for roasts or chops.
In Italy, we have stores called salumerie.These are pork butcher shops, almost delicatessens, where all pork products are sold. These are the showcases for an unbelievable array of sausages, salami and prosciutti among other items. Most of these products are preserved, salt and air-cured, then aged to perfection. Some are fresh like the famous cotechino. Cotechino is a large fresh sausage, a specialty of Emilia-Romagna. It is made from pork rind and shoulder, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Try fresh sausages, fried or braised and served with hot polenta, for an unbeatable combination.
Pork chops and pork roasts are a favorite of many regions. A beautiful pork loin roast cooked with a little Marsala wine becomes a delicious and elegant glazed dish. Braise a pork loin in milk and you will have a melt-in-your-mouth delicacy. Roast pork with a little fresh rosemary and garlic and discover an unbeatable combination.
Many Italians enjoy variety meats such as sweetbreads, brains and liver. When you cook Calf’s Liver in Onion Sauce, you will taste one of Northern Italy’s most celebrated liver dishes.
I learned to like calf’s liver as a young child. My mother would say, “Tonight we’ll have breaded chicken.” Only when I was older did I realize that the strange-looking chicken was liver. By then it was too late because I had grown to like it.
Liver recipes can be cooked in a few minutes. This is one more advantage of the food of Italy. It is outstanding and yet so simple to prepare.
ROAST RACK OF LAMB
Carré d’Agnello Arrosto
Serve with Baked Onions, page 183, and fresh vegetables in season.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
2 racks of lamb
2 tablespoons olive oil
Leaves from 1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon dry unflavored bread crumbs
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Trim all fat from lamb. Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Brush lamb with 1 tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with rosemary. Season with salt and pepper.
Put remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a roasting pan. Place lamb in pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes to give medium-rare meat. Bake another 5 minutes for medium to well-done meat.
Combine parsley, garlic, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Sprinkle top of lamb with bread crumb mixture and cook 5 minutes longer. Place meat on a warm platter. Serve individual chops by cutting down between the ribs.
LEG OF LAMB WITH BACON AND VEGETABLES
Cosciotto d’Agnello alla Pancetta
This is a good way to make a leg of lamb feed a crowd.