Erica De Mane

Still Life with Casserole Dish, Onions, Garlic, and Carrots, by Catherine Edmunds.

Recipe below: Spezzatino of Lamb with Fennel, Carrots, and Peas

Have you all found ways to keep busy? I hope so. If it weren’t for cooking, I don’t know what I’d be doing, or how I’d be doing, truly. I’m sure a lot of you feel the same. And, I must add, if liquor stores hadn’t been declared an essential business, I’d be way deep inside my own bad head by now. I tend to get withdrawn when scared, and wine can be liberating. There is, of course, with booze, the problem of diminishing returns, but so far I’m nowhere near that hazard.

Last night I decided to make Easter dinner. Since I have no idea what day it is, it may as well be Easter. Here’s my version of agnello con piselli, a Roman lamb stew that’s made for that holiday. It’s usually thickened with eggs. I’ve never been crazy about the texture that creates, so here I’ve just upped the vegetables, adding fennel and carrots, and worked in a slurry at the end to add body.

Try serving this delicate stew over fettuccine tossed with butter and more fennel fronds, or with bruschetta brushed with olive oil. An escarole salad is a good follow-up, with Rodda Peeps for dessert.

Spezzatino of Lamb with Fennel, Carrots, and Peas

(Serves 5)

2½ pounds lamb shoulder, cut into 1½-inch cubes
Salt
1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1 tablespoon sugar
Black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large fennel bulb, cored and cut into medium chunks, reserving the fronds
4 or 5 carrots, cut into thick ovals on an angle
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 or 5 large sprigs of rosemary, the leaves chopped
2 fresh bay leaves
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 cup dry vermouth
3 cups homemade chicken broth
1 tablespoon honey
1½ cups fresh peas, or a package of frozen peas
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1½ tablespoons flour

Dry off the lamb chunks, and toss them with the ground fennel seed, some salt, black pepper, and the sugar.

Get out a large casserole fitted with a lid. Pour in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and get it hot over medium high heat. Brown the lamb well, doing it in batches so you don’t crowd it.

Turn the heat down a bit, and add the onion, the fennel, and the carrots. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary, cinnamon, bay leaves, and anchovies, and sauté it all until fragrant, about another minute or so.

Add the vermouth, and let it bubble for a few seconds. Now add the chicken broth and the honey. Add more broth or water, if needed, to just cover the meat. Season with a bit more salt and black pepper, and bring it to a boil.

Turn the heat to very low, cover the pot, and simmer gently until the lamb is tender, about 1½ hours. Don’t be tempted to let it go much longer. It’ll get dry. Lamb stew cooks faster than beef stew.

Skim any scum off the top. I find that lamb throws scum.

In a small bowl, mix the softened butter together with the flour. Add a big ladle of stew broth, and mix it in well. Pour this into the stew, and stir it in. Let it cook at a simmer for a minute or so to thicken the sauce.

Add the peas, and cook until they’re tender, another minute or two. Taste for seasoning, perhaps adding more salt, pepper, rosemary, a bit more cinnamon, or a drizzle more honey to balance the flavors. Add the fennel fronds. Serve.