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Lamb, Chop, Chop!

This is a simple single-pot Italian dish of stove-top braised lamb—more akin to a casserole than anything else—that requires very little other than decent ingredients and patience. So find yourself a decent bottle of red for company and you'll pull it of in no time at all... well, maybe a little more time than that. It's a slow-cook dish after all.



I was feeling pre-autumnal and felt I wanted to give this one an outing. Frankly, it's not all that seasonal. It works in any season when you're hungry.


This recipe is for two adults. Yes, I don't doubt your arithmetic skills. You do the sums; up or down, depending on your needs.


Shopping list

  • 1 or 2 lamb chops per diner

  • 1 large (or 2 small) white or red onion, cubed

  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped

  • 1 large red bell pepper, diced into fairly large pieces

  • 1 x 400g (or similar) tin Italian plum tomatoes, importantly, not chopped

  • 1 vegetable stock cube or jelly

  • Approx. 150g fresh whole-leaf spinach

  • 5 or 6 large sprigs of fresh rosemary

  • 6 to 7 sundried tomatoes (approx. 100g) cut into fairly large pieces e.g. quarters

  • Salt and black pepper to taste

  • A small glass of red wine

  • A liberal dousing of extra virgin olive oil (about 4 tabspns)

  • 2 or 3 large squares of bitter dark chocolate


Cooking Method

  1. In a large, deep (preferably non-stick) frying pan with a lid, heat half of the olive oil on a high heat. Once hot (but not smoking hot), drop in the lamb chops. Cook for no more than 1 min each side, seasoning with black pepper and salt. Your mission is to brown them, not cook them. Remove and place on a clean plate. NB: do NOT cut any excess fat off the lamb chops. It is essential for the flavour of this dish

  2. To the same pan, add the garlic and onions, sweating the onions on a high heat, but making sure they don't stick. Add more olive oil as needed. When the onions begin to soften, throw in the chopped bell pepper and mix together. Sauté these ingredients, pouring in a little of the red wine

  3. While the wine is cooking off, boil the kettle and dilute the vegetable stock cube/jelly in no more than half a cup of boiling water

  4. Add a dash of the diluted stock if needed to keep the ingredients moving easily in the pan. Push to the edges with a wooden spoon or spatula

  5. Gently place the lamb chops back into the pan. Add the tin of whole tomatoes with their juice. Spoon the other ingredients over the top of the lamb. On top of this, place the full sprigs of rosemary

  6. Pour in the rest of the stock mixture into the pan and bring the contents to the boil, allowing to boil for no more than 5 to 7 mins

  7. Cover and reduce the heat to a very low setting. Allow to simmer—that's probably too butch a term; it should barely be bubbling—for at least 40 min, occasionally turning the chops

  8. Only after at least 40 min, throw in the sundried tomatoes making sure not to drain off their oil and add the rest of the red wine. Stir, re-cover and allow it all to cook for at least another 40 to 60 min on a very low heat

  9. As the dish approaches being ready to serve, add the spinach onto the top of the pan's contents. Re-cover and allow it to get on with it for another 5 to 7 min

  10. Ideally, the spinach will wilt really slowly. At this point, grate the dark chocolate directly into the pan using a fine grater. Stir and replace the lid. Cook for another 5 to 7 min on a very low heat

  11. Finally, remove the lid and increase the heat. Stirring gently, reducing the liquid to the desired consistency. It should still remain fairly fluid

Accompaniments

This is one of those dishes I feel needs no more than rustic bread and perhaps a simple green salad. So that's how I usually eat it. But, if you do feel the need for an additional carbohydrate side dish, I recommend simple braised rice or the small, rice-like pasta orzo, dressed with lemon zest and a little olive oil. Or, in colder months, roasted potatoes.


Pairings

Another of my quotidian dishes, I've never tried anything fancy on this one. But notoriously fatty lamb, despite being perfectly offset by the tomatoes in this dish, never suffers from the company of a kick-ass red. Most often I have found it a good mate in Spanish Tempranilllos. Argentinean Malbecs or Cabernet Sauvignons or Barberas if you want to stay on-region with Italy and punt for the price.





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