Bottega - Michael Chiarello [27]
I grew up next to Assyrians who made a variety of lamb kabobs using whole chunks of meat but also spiced ground lamb shaped around the end of a twig like a hot dog on a stick, so this idea brought back flavors from my childhood. For this technique, wide, flat skewers work better because the spiedini is less likely to slip off into the fire.
The next time you have after-dinner coals still glowing and eggplant and onions right there in your kitchen, bury the vegetables in the coals with their skins on (pierce the eggplant first) and let them cook. Then, when cool, pass the eggplant’s flesh through a sieve for a rich, silky purée that’s folded into the ground lamb. The lamb has a smokiness that’s both inside the meat, from the eggplant purée, and outside, from the grill. You’ll want some brightness against all that smoky sultriness, and the watercress salad is exactly right.
This is food best cooked outdoors, in hot but dying coals in your grill, but you can also cook them in your oven on a baking sheet. You can’t roast them over a wood-burning fire or they’ll taste smoldery. You want to bury them in the hot embers. You could cook them under a 500°F broiler too, but they won’t have the same depth of flavor. If you don’t want to stand outside grilling in the dead of winter, try roasting the vegetables for these meat skewers in your fireplace. Some of my best dinner parties have taken place on the floor in front of the hearth.
Wine Pairing: Russian River Pinot Noir
ROASTED-VEGETABLE PURÉE
2 Italian eggplants with stems, unpeeled
1 large yellow onion, unpeeled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon sea salt, preferably gray salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
SPIEDINI
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup raisins
1 pound ground lamb, or a combination of ¼ pound ground pork and ¼ pound ground lamb
Sea salt, preferably gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup reserved roasted-vegetable purée
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
WATERCRESS SALAD
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 packed cups watercress sprigs
Sea salt, preferably gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE ROASTED-VEGETABLE PURÉE: Let a charcoal fire or wood fire burn down to glowing coals that are just beginning to lose their red color, or preheat the oven to 500°F. Pierce both eggplants with a fork so you don’t run the risk of an eggplant explosion. Push the eggplants and onion into the hot embers so they are completely buried and cook until the eggplants are soft (test with a skewer), 20 to 40 minutes depending on the heat of the coals. Or, place them on a rimmed baking sheet and roast in the oven until a skewer slides easily into the eggplant’s center. Remove the vegetables from the coals or oven and set aside until cool to the touch. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and scoop out the center, being careful not to get any ash into the flesh; place the flesh in a food processor. Peel the onion and add it to the food processor as well; purée until smooth.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and pour in the oil. When it’s hot, add 2 cups of the purée, the thyme, salt, and pepper and sauté until almost dry, cooking out the excess liquid. Strain the mixture through a sieve, pushing the flesh through with the back of a large spoon and occasionally cleaning the sieve. (This is a pain, but worth the effort for the silky result.) Reserve 1/3 cup of the purée for the spiedini.
FOR THE SPIEDINI: Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill, preheat a gas grill to high, or preheat a broiler to 500°F. Soak eleven wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes (one skewer