Paola Di Mauros Roman Lamb Recipes

DASHI

Steps:

• Soak kombo in 5 cups of cold water for an hour. Then over low heat slowly bring water to a boil. Just before boiling, remove kombo.
• When water boils, raise heat to medium, and add bonito flakes. Cook 1 minute, skim surface, and turn off heat. After bonito flakes settle to bottom of saucepan, strain stock through cheesecloth or fine strainer, discard the flakes, and reserve the dashi.

PAOLA DI MAURO'S ROMAN LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Rinse the lamb chunks under cold running water, and pat dry with paper towels.
• In a casserole or roasting pan large enough to hold all pieces of lamb, heat olive oil over medium-high to high heat. When oil is almost smoking, add lamb chunks and brown quickly, turning frequently, for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Coarsely chop 2 of the garlic cloves; add to lamb as it browns. When all the lamb is browned, add salt and abundant pepper. Sprinkle flour over lamb pieces, and turn them to mix in seasoning and salt. Add wine; as soon as it starts to bubble, cover pan and place in oven to roast, covered, for 30 minutes.
• While lamb is roasting, coarsely chop remaining garlic, and using a mortar and pestle, pound it with chopped rosemary into a coarse paste. Add chopped anchovies, and continue pounding to make a fairly smooth paste. A tablespoon at a time, mix in wine vinegar to make a smooth emulsion.
• When lamb has roasted for 30 minutes, remove from oven, and pour vinegar emulsion over lamb pieces. Turn them to coat well with sauce. Return to oven, uncovered, to roast an additional 30 minutes.
• When lamb is done, with no trace of red in the meat, remove from oven, set aside for 5 minutes, then put lamb on a heated serving platter. Bring pan juices to a boil and cook rapidly for about 45 seconds, or just long enough to reduce juices and thicken them slightly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour juices over lamb chunks; serve immediately.

PAPPA AL POMODORO

Steps:

• Heat a medium Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta, and cook until the pancetta is brown and crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.
• Add the red onion, carrot, garlic and red pepper flakes to the pot. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the salt, canned tomatoes, chicken broth and bread cubes; stir to combine. Nestle in the basil sprigs and Parmesan rind. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle bubble. Stir in the pancetta.
• Cook for 25 minutes, stirring often to break apart the bread and prevent the Parmesan rind from sticking to the bottom of the pan. If the soup gets too thick, add extra broth as needed; the finished soup should be silky and thickened. Stir in the grated Parmesan.
• To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with a sprinkling of Parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil, and chopped basil.

THE BEST CORN BREAD

Steps:

• Spread bacon grease around in a 10-inch, well-seasoned, cast-iron skillet and put the skillet in the oven. Turn the oven to 450 degrees and leave it to heat while you prepare the corn bread.
• Combine the egg and buttermilk in a bowl, beating the egg slightly with a fork. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to mix well.
• Add enough cornmeal to make a thin batter, like pancake batter. Every cornmeal is different, but one and three quarters cups, more or less, should be enough. As soon as the oven reaches 450 degrees and the bacon grease is just at the point of smoking, pour the batter into the pan all at once and return immediately to the oven. Bake until the top just begins to brown, approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven, turn onto a plate and serve immediately with plenty of butter.

TOMATO SAUCE FOR PASTA

Steps:

• In saucepan, saute onion, garlic and carrot, if desired, in olive oil until soft.
• Chop tomatoes. Add to pan along with all other remaining ingredients except capers. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes or longer, until thick. Add capers if desired.
• Puree the sauce if you wish. Serve over pasta.

JOHNNYCAKE (SPIDER CORN BREAD)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch iron spider (skillet).
• Mix together the dry ingredients.
• Beat the eggs, mix with the buttermilk and then with the melted butter. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well.
• Pour into the greased spider and bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes, until the top is brown and crusty. Serve immediately, cut into pie-shaped wedges.