I've never been to Sardinia but would like to and the other day I thought I'd take an imaginary journey there by trying one of its famous dishes. Cutturiddi is a lamb stew which is also made, with slight variations, in Puglia and Basilicata. The lamb is cooked slowly in oil with fresh red chilli pepper, onion [I used a red one], celery and fresh tomatoes. I didn't peel the tomatoes but probably would have if I had been cooking for guests. The vegetables provide plenty of liquid and no extra is added apart from a ladeful of water.
Now I have to make a confession so if any Sardinians are reading, look away now! It is that I am still British enough to have an obsession with the "marriage" of lamb and mint and, as I had some, I added a few fresh mint leaves. I think it worked!
For those of you in Italy, I found the recipe in the Bolliti, Brasati e Spezzatini volume of the La Cucina Italiana series that comes with La Gazzetta dello Sport [which I don't read.] As I'm sure the result would be just as delicious without the mint I want to go to Sardinia more than ever now!
5 comments:
I, too, find it very difficult to remove mint from the equation when cooking lamb, Pat. They kind of go hand in in hand.
I met a lovely lady from Sardinia once...back in 1988...I took a group of touring Italians for a day out to Port Douglas, a lovely coastal township in far north Queensland.
We all had a marvellous day and the visitors to my fair country really appreciated the time they had. They'd been everywhere throughout the country, but said this, their final day, was the best! The funny thing was only one amongst the visitors, a doctor, spoke English; and I spoke no Italian, yet we all understood each other...and there was much chatter and laughter going on all day.
I hired a Toyoto mini-bus for our day out...and once we arrived at our destination, a vote was taken amongst my guests whether we would go to a restaurant for lunch or grab some goodies from the local supermarket-deli and bakery, and a cask of wine; then we'd go and sit under the coconut palms on the foreshore of the beach to eat our lunch...the latter choice won!
Everyone relished tearing fresh, crusty bread apart, accompanied with cheeses, salami and olives; all washed down with some wine. (Being the driver, I only had one glass)!
The following day, I went to the airport to bid them farewell - they were heading back to Italy...and the lady from Sardinia gave me a coin as a reminder of the fun day she'd enjoyed - we'd been joking about something or other. I still have the coin today. I've always intended having it put on a chain. It has a hole in the centre and consists of a band of silver and one of brass (it looks like brass or bronze).
Sorry, this has turned into a chapter!!
It was a Sunday staple in my house, the sauce dressing rigatoni for the first course.
Sounds good but I think your Welsh recipe would be better.
But int and lamb is a marriage made in heaven!
What a lovely story and keepsake, Lee. Thank you for sharing it here. Must have been delicious, Rosaria. I don't have a Welsh recipe for it, WW. There is cawl, which I can't stand and Welosh lamb is, of course, good but I don't have a special Welsh way of cooking it. Agreed, jams.
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