Rigatoni al sugo d'agnello

Rigatoni del Superbowl al sugo d'agnello alla fantasia di Antonius

I'm a big sports fan in general and love the NFL, but with two teams in the superbowl that I don't really like, I spent much of the first half of game with just one eye on the television, drinking a couple of beers and putting together a dinner to be consumed round about the end of the second half.

The dish we made was a sugo or ragù of lamb (from City Noor) which I cut into very small pieces and browned. A battuto (onion, celery, carrot, parsley, garlic, plus...), a good amount of white wine and ultimately (after some reduction of the wine), pomodori pelati were the further major components. There was, however, included in the battuto an unusual ingredient (for this sort of dish), the presence of which was inspired by a recipe of some friends of Patricia Wells; this addition to the battuto was a dose of freshly minced ginger. The recipe Wells describes shares several elements with the dish I made but also differs crucially from my sugo in fundamental ways. But I thought the use of ginger here would be an interesting little twist in the otherwise fairly straightforward Central Italian lamb dish I make; it did add a very nice touch, especially since the longish cooking rendered it a most harmonious element in a complex whole.

The sugo cooked for something on the order of one and a half to two hours and the final dish of rigatoni dressed with that sugo was finished with a large dose of fresh mint, a little parsley and black pepper. At table, pecorino romano, ricotta salata and freshly crushed dry wild chiles (very piquant and very flavourful) were served for facultative use by the individual diners.

The arrival of the maccheroni on the table rendered the end of the game completely uninteresting. Che saporito!

Antonius


Rigatoni del Superbowl al sugo d'agnello alla fantasia di Antonius

A,

What an interesting "fantasy" recipe.

It is strange, at least to me, that we don't see more ginger in the food of Italy. What with Marco Polo, Venetian trade, etc., I'd think this Asian root would be more common in Italian cuisine.

Hammond

I make mine similar to yours (though never tried the ginger: ragu cinese??), but I add chunks of pancetta with the lamb (I use shoulder), or some pork skin. Depending on my mood, I'll brown a couple Tbs of tomato paste and deglaze with red wine before adding the pomodori. I've dinked with herbs, but haven't found the "perfect" spice, yet. I like thyme, rosemary, and mint best, sometimes one, other times another. I usually grate a pecorino over this. The peperoncino makes the dish perfect. Which brand of rigatoni do you like?

David Hammond wrote:It is strange, at least to me, that we don't see more ginger in the food of Italy. What with Marco Polo, Venetian trade, etc., I'd think this Asian root would be more common in Italian cuisine.

I agree, it is striking that ginger has been so little used in traditional Italian cooking since the Middle Ages. Of course, there remain some traditional savoury recipes that employ it from, for example, Venice and Ferrara. But it worked beautifully in this dish; maybe I'm on to something...

On the other hand, some of the 'sweet' spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves are used quite a bit in traditional savoury dishes. In connexion with the "Peccati Culinarii" thread, I would say that these are very much among the neglected ingredients in American takes on Italian food.

A

Choey wrote:... I've dinked with herbs, but haven't found the "perfect" spice, yet. I like thyme, rosemary, and mint best, sometimes one, other times another. I usually grate a pecorino over this. The peperoncino makes the dish perfect. Which brand of rigatoni do you like?

I usually stick to one herb at a time in things Italian, though I also make some Provençal recipes which are very close -- sometimes almost indisguishable -- from southern Italian recipes except with regard to the Provençal inclination to use lots of herbs. In sugo d'agnello I like mint or rosemary but sage can be nice too.

There are several outstanding 'high-end' brands of pasta available and I remember you've mentioned several of them in recent posts. My personal favourite is Cav. Giuseppe Cocco, which is top quality and turns out some nice shapes (e.g. sagnerelli). But, while that brand can be found in several of the places I shop at, my basic standard premium brand is Divella, which is sold in all the Italian stores I know in Chicagoland. For rigatoni, of the brands more or less readily available to me, my favourites are then: Cocco #1, Divella #2.

A

How to get pumped up for a game.? So Im on my high school water polo team. were already half way through the season and basically we have not been pumped up for any game at all. we have our huge green and gold game this wed. and I want to do something to get everyone pumped up. But I have no idea what to do? Any ideas?
____________________
affiliateelite ~ affiliateelite.com ~ adgooroo ~ adgooroo.com

elizaveta wrote:How to get pumped up for a game.? So Im on my high school water polo team. were already half way through the season and basically we have not been pumped up for any game at all. we have our huge green and gold game this wed. and I want to do something to get everyone pumped up. But I have no idea what to do? Any ideas?

Eat rigatoni al sugo d'agnello? It will give you a carb load and . . . pump you up?

elizaveta- Welcome to LTH forum!

I applaud your team spirit and your investment in cooking as a way to bring your team together! You are on the right track. I think, though, you would get more answers to your question if you posted a separate topic , such as, "What to Cook for my Team-Help Sought" in the subject line of a separate post. Lots of people follow Antonius' wonderful threads, however, so who knows?

Anyway, here is my answer: Since you are a water polo team, what about making a big bowl of Mexican chicken stew--it is green and gold. You could even line up the green and gold elements on the top of the bowl in the manner of a water polo game, with a "net" made of something edible. Or spell out the name of your team with something edible.

Mexican Chicken Stew was a specialty of Prairie Joe's in Evanston. Carmello, one of the cooks, made it there until he returned to his native Veracruz.

My recipe is somewhat loose, but here goes:

In a large, heavy skillet, brown lightly pieces of a whole chicken. Use as many chickens as you need for the number of people to be served, but do not use boneless, skinless breasts, as this will result in a dry dish. An acceptable substitute is bone-in thighs, however. Remove chicken to a large pot big enough to hold the finished stew. Cut up one large yellow onion and one celery stalk for every chicken you use-or every 3 lbs. of thighs. Saute over medium heat until wilted, not browned then add two garlic cloves, chopped, and heat for a minute or two, but do not brown the garlic or it will be bitter. Add this mixture to the chicken in the pot, cover chicken with water or low salt chicken broth, and bring to the boil, then lower heat to a simmer. The chicken should be almost soft. After an hour or so, add 1 cup sliced carrots 1 diced fresh tomato, sliced jalapeno peppers (to taste) 1 or 2 per chicken, and some red and black pepper and salt to taste, and 1 can of posole. You could add some sweet corn for the gold element in your dish, but I have not done this in the past. Cook another 25 minutes or until carrots can be pierced. Top the dish with one small bunch of chopped cilantro, some finely chopped white onion, sliced avocado, and stir in the juice of 1/2 a lime. Serve with corn tortillas and wedges of lime.

I love this dish and make it often. The only thing you might do is to served the cilantro on the side if you think you have some on the team who might not like it. as some people do not care for it at all.

Or, you might make Antonius' ragu (above) I cannot improve on that and I think I will make it myself tonight!

Best of luck in your game- Josephine