Recipe of the week: Spring lamb: A triumph of Italian cooking

Italy’s most popular cookbook ever, Il Cucchiaio d’argento, was first published in 1950, and has been treasured by generations as the definitive guide to Italian cuisine. Its 2,000 recipes are mostly from family kitchens,

not restaurants, and even the most obscure vegetable, fish, meat, pasta, oil, spice, and cheese gets its due. This 1,200-page classic is now available in English as The Silver Spoon (Phaidon Press, $39.95). Among the triumphs of authentic Italian cooking that it contains is Abbacchio alla Romana, or

Roman spring lamb.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Recipe of the week

Roman Spring Lamb

2-1/4-lb leg of lamb

All-purpose flour, for dusting

3 tbsp olive oil

3 fresh rosemary sprigs

4 fresh sage leaves, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

3/4 cup white wine

5 tbsp white-wine vinegar

4 potatoes, sliced

Salt and pepper

Chop the leg into pieces or ask the butcher to do this for you. Preheat

the oven to 350º. Dust the pieces of lamb with flour. Heat the oil in a wide

roasting pan, add the lamb and cook over high heat, turning frequently, for

about 10 minutes until browned all over. Season with salt and pepper, add the rosemary sprigs, and sprinkle with sage and garlic. Turn the pieces over several times so that they soak up the flavor. Combine the wine and vinegar, add to the roasting pan,and cook until the liquid has almost completely evaporated. Add 2/3 cup boiling water and the potatoes, cover and roast for 30 minutes or until tender. If the gravy seems to be drying out, add a little hot water mixed with whitewine vinegar. Transfer the lamb to a warm serving dish and serve while still hot.

For an even tastier alternative, omit the potatoes, and when the lamb is nearly ready transfer 2–3 tbsp of the gravy to a small pan, add three boned and chopped salted anchovies and cook over low heat, mashing the anchovies with a wooden spoon until they have almost disintegrated.

Mix well, pour the sauce over the meat, and roast for a few minutes more

before serving. Serves 4.