I’ve cooked a lot of things in my time. You know this, and have seen a lot of it. However, there are two things that I admit that leave me stumped and dumbfounded. First, stir fry. What those Chinese masters can do with a wok, I cannot. The second of that, is lamb. Roast lamb. Time and again I’ve failed, but I’ve decided to try again with this Italian Easter Lamb.
Just as the perfect season for it rolled around, it became time again, in my mind, for a nice lamb dish, something that I don’t make nearly as often enough, given my extreme love for it when I do. I haven’t made one since I overcooked the Barbacoa. There was a seemingly simple Puglian Easter lamb stew dish that looked fantastic from this month’s cookbook club book and I was all about it. Armed with my list ready to buy the exact cut of meat required, I got to the store and the boneless lamb shoulder that I was supposed to buy only came in…lamb steak. NO no no no no no. Panicking, I pointed at something, nodded my head and came home with a bone-in leg of lamb.
So not the same thing.
Also, not a cut meant to be stewed, I opted to just roast it and used mom’s 20-min-per-pound rule to ensure it wasn’t overcooked, and used the rest of the stew components to make a sauce with the pan drippings. Well, it worked, not the way I intended but in a no less tasty way. The lamb was NOT overcooked. Clearly I can do it, but need to get over the mental block I have about overcooking roasts.
As for the stir-fry, I’ll just continue to rely on my favorite take out.
Written while watching the snow fall.
Italian Easter Lamb
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pound bone-in leg of lamb, trimmed of large chunks of fat and rubbed with salt and pepper
- 2 TB olive oil
- 3 ounces pancettta, chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced (2 cups)
- 4 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 1/2 cups white wine
- 1 fresh red chili pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Step 2 In a large sauté pan, heat the oil to very hot. Sear the lamb, about 3 minutes per side, to get a nice crust. Remove from pan and place on roasting rack set in roasting pan.
- Step 3 To the same sauté pan, add the pancetta and let render. Add the onion and pepper and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes.
- Step 4 Stir in the wine and scrape up any brown bits. Simmer 2 minutes.
- Step 5 Add the wine/onion mixture to the roasting pan.
- Step 6 Cover the pan and lamb with foil and cook 25 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking another 25 for a total of 50 minutes for medium cooked lamb.
- Step 7 Take the lamb out of the oven and let rest, at least 10 minutes, before slicing. Meanwhile, place the roasting pan on the stove and stir the sauce together well. add the parsley and peas and cook until the peas have thawed. Serve over the lamb, and sprinkle with shaved Parmesan.
Recipe from The Flavour Principle.
