Simple Roman #Lamb

Simple delicious Italian dish that transports me back to trattorias in the back streets of Rome. Fresh, honest food, cooked with love!

We’ve been enjoying the Spring weather and trips to our local markets here in Sydney …the vegetables at the markets are so much fresher and much more interesting than supermarkets.

We are lucky despite lockdown to have Paddington markets and EQ markets nearby, within our 5km lockdown zone. A long way from Rome but inspiration to recreate some of the memories of times gone by.

These photos are from dinners reviewed here Divine food in the eternal city at Da Enzo and La Pentolaccia

So my humble Roman Lamb recipe truly pays back by transporting us to wonderful times of international travel and many visits to Rome.

Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time:1 hour

• Ingredients
• 6 lamb chump chops on the bone, fat removed and cut into chunks or 750g lamb shoulder, fat removed and cut into chunks
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 4/5 sprigs of fresh thyme(optional)
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 tablespoon coarse chopped rosemary
• Chopped parsley to garnish
• 4 anchovy fillets coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
• Salt and ground black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

2. Chop meat, heat oil to almost smoking, then brown in batches, adding 2 chopped cloves of garlic along the way. I use a non-stick frying pan and then transfer to a small casserole dish. ( beware this will turn your smoke alarms on if you don’t use fans/open windows!)

3. Place lamb and garlic in a casserole dish with a lid. Sprinkle with salt, lots of black pepper, thyme and flour.

4. Meanwhile deglaze the pan in which you browned the meat with 1 cup of white wine, then pour the wine and pan juices mixture over the lamb.

5. Put casserole dish in oven with lid on for 30 minutes.

6. While lamb is roasting, put rest of garlic, rosemary and anchovies into a mortar and pestle and pound into a smooth a paste as you can. Add the wine vinegar and mix vigorously to creates an emulsion.

7. After 30 minutes, remove lamb from oven, pour over the rosemary emulsion and mix through well.

8. Put lamb back in oven with lid off for another 30 minutes until fully cooked through and browned on top.

9. Remove from oven, allow to rest for 5 minutes and serve with sides such as #Cipollini Onions #agrodolce or Roman #Cauliflower? #Broccoli? Or a simple rocket and parmesan salad.