Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [193]
2. Put the oil and butter in the pot, turn the heat on to medium high, and when the butter foam begins to subside, put in the lamb, the garlic, and the rosemary. Brown the meat deeply all over, particularly the skin side. Check the garlic: If you find it is becoming very dark, remove it from the bottom of the pan and place it on top of the lamb.
3. Add salt, pepper, and the wine. Let the wine simmer briskly for about 15 or 20 seconds, turning the meat once or twice, then adjust heat to cook at a very gentle simmer and cover the pot, setting the lid on slightly ajar. Cook for about 1½ to 2 hours, until the lamb is cooked all the way through and begins to come off the bone. Turn the meat from time to time while it is cooking and, if the liquid in the pot has become insufficient, replenish it as often as needed with 2 or 3 tablespoons of water.
4. When done, transfer the lamb to a warm serving platter. Tip the pan to spoon off all but a small amount of fat. Add 2 tablespoons of water, raise the heat to high, and while the water boils away use a wooden spoon to scrape loose cooking residues from the bottom and sides. Pour the pot juices over the lamb and serve at once.
Abbacchio—Baby Lamb, Pan-Roasted Roman Style
THE DISH that Roman cooking is most famous for is month-old lamb, abbacchio. Rarely do butchers outside of Rome offer such young milk-fed lambs, but they can procure, usually on request, what is sometimes referred to in North America as hothouse lamb, a slightly older, but nonetheless very tender animal. You should try to obtain it for this dish, if you want to duplicate the special flavor of Roman abbacchio. If you must use older lamb, you can still count on excellent results from this recipe as long as you avoid anything more mature than young spring lamb.
For 6 servings
2 tablespoons cooking fat (see note below)
3 pounds shoulder, with some loin attached, of very young lamb, cut into 3-inch pieces, with the larger bones removed, if you like
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
6 to 8 fresh sage leaves OR ½ teaspoon dried leaves, chopped fine
A sprig of fresh rosemary OR 1 teaspoon chopped dried
1 tablespoon flour
½ cup wine vinegar
4 flat anchovy fillets (preferably the ones prepared at home as described), chopped to a pulp
Note In Rome, the fat traditionally used for roasting abbacchio is lard, and no other produces comparably fine flavor or the same light, crisp surface on the meat. But if you prefer not to use lard, you can replace it with olive oil, or a combination of butter and vegetable oil, or all vegetable oil.
1. Choose a heavy-bottomed or enameled cast-iron pot that will comfortably contain all the meat. Put in the cooking fat and turn on the heat to medium high. It the fat is lard, put in the lamb pieces when it melts; if it is butter, when its foam subsides; or, if it is all oil, when hot enough that when you test it with a piece of meat, it sizzles. Brown the meat deeply on all sides, then add salt, pepper, the garlic, sage, and rosemary. Turn over all ingredients 2 or 3 times to coat them well.
2. After cooking for 1 minute, lightly dust the lamb with 1 tablespoon flour sifted through a sieve or fine wire strainer. Distribute the flour evenly over the meat. Cook long enough to turn each piece of meat once, then add the vinegar. When the vinegar has simmered briskly for 15 to 20 seconds, add ⅓ cup of water, and when the water begins to bubble, adjust heat to cook at a very gentle simmer, and cover the pot, setting the lid on slightly ajar.
3. Cook, turning the meat from time to time, until the lamb begins to come easily off any bone, and feels very tender when prodded with a fork. If very young, it may take 1 hour or less. If while it cooks, the liquid should become insufficient, replenish it with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water, as needed.
4. When the lamb is nearly done, put water in the bottom half of a small double boiler, and bring it to