Eastern Lamb: Abbacchio Brodettato
Mimi has this in her book and says that it is a very common Easter dish. I looked through multitude of recipes on the internet and while they vary, a few things remain the same: This is prepared as a stew with the lamb cut in chunks and white and egg yolks are the main ingredients. I opted to make lamb shanks with this and my lamb-eating husband (who is also a picky lamb eater loved the dish. I am including my modification. If you want the real thing, go online….
“Always remember: If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who’s going to know?” –Julia Child
Lamb Shank Abbacchio Brodettato
Ingredients:
4 lamb shanks
5 tablespoons olive oil (more if the lamb sticks in the pan)
1 onion, finely diced
2 ounces of prosciutto/parma ham or bacon finely diced
Salt/pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
½ teaspoon fresh or dried marjoram leaves
Grated lemon peel AND juice of one lemon
3 egg yolks
Directions:
Brown the onion and ham until the ham is crisp and the onions have color. Remove from the pan. Add the olive oil and lamb shanks and brown on all sides. If the lamb sticks, add more oil. Once the lamb is browned on all side, remove lamb from the pan and drain of excess oil. Place the lamb, onions/ham mixture and wine and herbs. Cover the pan with foil and cook at 350 degrees for 2 hours, checking periodically to add additional wine if the wine has cooked off. When the lamb is tender, remove from the pan from the oven and remove the lamb from the pan. Beat the egg yoks with the lemon zest and lemon juice, stir into the pan juices and replace the lamb. Stir to combine. Serve with a green salad.
