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My latest Cooking Italy assignment from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking was Pasta all’ Amatriciana a wonderful sauce with origins in the area of Rome.   I made this dish last week, but have not had a chance to post, since I was also very busy preparing for a jewelry show last Saturday.  Again a very simple sauce, my favorite kind these days!  The sauce is traditionally served with a bucatini pasta – a thick, hollow spaghetti-like pasta.  Alas, there was none to be had, so I went with penne, one of Ms. Hazan’s other recommendations for this sauce.

Vegetable oil (I used olive), butter and a finely chopped onion are sauteed until the onion turns gold.  Small strips of pancetta are added and cooked for about a minute.  Canned plum tomatoes are cut up, drained and also added.  Salt and chopped hot red chili pepper round out the flavors and the sauce  is cooked at a gentle simmer for 25 minutes.  I think I may have overcooked a bit, as the oil and tomatoes separated – but it was all good and very delicious.  The cooked sauce is mixed with the pasta and both parmigiano and romano cheeses are added.  For the recipe adaptation, see our Cooking Italy Founder Angela’s Spinach Tiger blog.

While you’re there, you might want to check out her interview with Giuliano & Lael Hazan – Ms. Hazan’s son and daughter-in-law!  They found each other through twitter – how cool is that?

I was surprised at the mildness of the pancetta – it is likened to an Italian “bacon” – but did not have the smokiness one expects with bacon.  I was also a little leery of the hot pepper, as spicy hot no longer agrees with me – but it was perfect to perk up the flavors in this dish.

This is a beautiful, “company-worthy” first course – doable in a mere half hour!  Go!  Cook!

This dish was an assignment of the Cooking Italy group, founded by Angela of Spinach Tiger.  We are working with Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.  More detailed adaptations of the recipes are available from from other members of Cooking Italy, for the lamb and for the potatoes.  Check the blog roll to see how others prepared this dish.

The first dish I made was Pan Roasted Lamb with Juniper Berries.  I am not a huge fan of lamb, so was  going to skip it, but my husband likes lamb and this recipe looked easy – so there you have it, lamb for dinner.  First you take some lamb shoulder, on the bone, cut into 3″-4″ pieces.  Put it in a heavy iron pot along with 1 tbs. each of chopped carrot and celery and 2 tbs. of chopped onion. Add a cup of dry white wine, 2 cloves of garlic, mashed, a sprig of fresh rosemary (or chopped dried), 1 1/2 tsps. of crushed juniper berries, salt and pepper.

Cook all this on medium heat for about 3 1/2 hours, turning the lamb about every half hour, letting the liquid evaporate the last hour or so.  You will wind up with this:

Although the lamb started off stewing in a liquid broth and looking gray, it ended up beautifully browned.  The juniper berries seem to have tamed that lamb taste that I don’t generally care for.  The meat was falling-off-the-bone, no-knife-needed tender.  I expanded my culinary horizons and as a result, my husband and I were both rewarded with a delicious meal.

The accompanying dish of Sliced Potatoes Baked with Porcini and Fresh Cultivated Mushrooms, Riviera Style was also easily prepared.  Sliced potatoes (I used Yukon Golds), sliced white mushrooms, reconstituted dried porcini mushrooms, olive oil, chopped garlic and parsley, fresh pepper.  Bake together until potatoes are done.  Great fall dish, we both enjoyed this one also.  If you are cooking on a budget, I think that if you omitted the pricey porcini, the dish would be a little different, but still fabulous.

Please bear with me as I try to catch up with jewelry, puppies and cooking!