Italian Spring Break

Are you ready for an Italian Spring Break? Begin by changing your mind set with a new attitude and create a lifestyle that values beauty, art, culture, good food and wine. Spring foods in Italy include spring peas (primavera piselli), asparagus (asparagi), fava beans and spring lamb (agnello) and artichokes (carciofi).  You’ve never eaten artichokes Italian style! In almost very region of Italy carts loaded with artichokes appear at the outdoor markets in the springtime. Their long stems and leaves are still attached, which helps to keep them from drying out. One of the first foods our Nonna taught me to cook was braised artichokes with celery. Slowly steamed in a bath of water, extra virgin olive oil and garlic, the whole house smelled like an exotic incense and when we ate this dish the soft, warm flesh of the artichoke tasted like the first warm days of Spring.

Italian cooks often serve the stems as well. They only need peeling and can be cooked right alongside the artichokes. Take an Italian Spring Break at home by preparing agnello al forno con patate arrosto (Spring Leg of Lamb Roasted with Potatoes and Rosemary) and Braised Artichokes paired with a Valpolicella wine from the Veneto region of Italy.  A celebratory dish that would be a special presentation with rustic springtime aroma for your family’s Easter table.

Agnello al Forno con Patate Arrosto – Roast Leg of Lamb with Potatoes

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3  cloves of garlic
coarsely ground black pepper and salt
one leg of lamb at room temperature
1/2 cup Capezzana extra olive oil
few drops of wine vinegar

yellow potatoes cut in halves

PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees F.

STRIP the leaves from the sprigs of rosemary. Chop 1 sprig of rosemary and 2 garlic cloves. Mix with a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Marinate the meat in olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary. Toss potatoes in the marinade as well and then cover all and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

REMOVE the lamb and potatoes from the marinade. Make cuts here and there over the leg of lamb and stuff with small bits of the remaining garlic clove.

ANOINT the lamb and potatoes well with good extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle on more coarse salt and pepper. Sear lamb on top of stove in a heavy skillet then put the lamb on a rack in a roasting pan surrounded by the potatoes and place in a hot oven. Roast at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes then lower the heat to 375 degrees to cook the lamb through (1 – 1.5 hours). BASTE occasionally with extra virgin olive oil which you can brush on with the other sprig of rosemary and once or twice sprinkle on a few drops of wine vinegar. If your oven or grill has a revolving spit then use that instead of the rack and pan.

AT END OF ROASTING, cover the meat and let rest for 10 minutes, so juices can come back into the layers of the lamb.

NOTE: Tuscans like their lamb to be well cooked with a crusty salty exterior. They do not carve the lamb into slices but break it into large chunks.