I know it’s a little late for Easter recipes. But really, who can say what day it is? Easter was probably yesterday, but maybe it was just another Tuesday? It could be Christmas for all I know. And I’m pretty sure it was also Passover at some point
Whatever the day (or month or year) I decided to share these recipes here, since so many people asked for them when they saw my photos on instagram. And while they are traditional Easter (or Passover) recipes, I think that since you have a lot of time on your hands anyway, they’ll be good for any day in this never-ending month.
The first, Lamb with Artichokes and Lemon, comes from the classic Cucina Ebraica by Joyce Goldstein. Sophie and I pulled out this cookbook when we were looking for recipes for Passover. But when we decided to make our Seder a bit lighter, we just shifted this recipe over for Easter. Which actually makes sense, since it’s a Roman recipe that is as good for one holiday as the other.
In fact, Sophie and I first had it at a little restaurant outside of Rome, and vowed we’d make it at some point. While the recipe calls for lamb and artichokes, almost any light meat and spring vegetable will do. The original recipe actually calls for goat. You can easily sub in chicken or veal, and I once made a very similar dish using rabbit. While the recipe calls for artichokes, we also added fresh fave beans and peas. I think Asparagus would work perfectly do. The non-negotiable ingredients though are the egg yolks and lemon juice that make up the finished sauce. It is SO good!!!
The second recipe is for Pastiera. This is a typical ricotta cake that is made all over southern Italy but especially Naples. We always had it on Easter, and for years Domenico’s Zia Tetta would bring one up from Bari to Umbria, where we would all celebrate together. In fact, I still have all of the special tin pans that are used to bake them in, which she would leave. This year since we are unable to go to Bari to be with Domenico’s mother, we were missing our Pastiera fix, and so I decided to make one.
Ricotta was easy to get, since the cheese store is still open. The other main ingredient is wheat berries. This is something that as far as I can tell is only used in this specific recipe at this time of year. It’s kind of like the equivalent of canned pumpkin at Thanksgiving in the USA. Luckily Sophie nabbed one of the last jars at our supermarket. If you can’t find wheat berries though, don’t worry. Just use cooked arborio rice. The other main change I made was to use butter instead of strutto (lard). And I really think this made a huge difference.
The recipe I used is from the website Giallo Zaffarano. It’s my go to Italian cooking website since it has everything and usually in a version that is easy to follow and ia accompanied by step by step photos. Here is the link to the recipe. I was going to transcribe it, into English, but sorry, I just don’t have it in me. But if you are dedicated, and curious, then google translate should work. (if you have specific questions you can ask below) The recipe is perfect and I was SO proud of my final pastiera. I like to think that Zia Tetta would have been just as proud.
Lamb with Artichokes, Eggs and Lemon
This is a typical Roman recipe adapted from Joyce Goldstein's Cucina Ebraica (1998). Although it calls for Goat, these days lamb is much more common. And while it's from a book on Jewish Roman cooking, it's also pretty common throughout the region as a spring time dish. Feel free to substitute in chicken or veal for the meat, and another vegetable (asparagus or peas) for the artichokes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 1/2 pounds/ 1 1/2 kilos of lamb, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley and/or mint
- salt
- pepper
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 lemon (for artichoke cleaning)
- 6-8 small artichokes (trimmed of outer leaves, and sliced like this)
- 3 egg yolks
- Fresh mint
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a pan large enough to hold all the lamb in a single layer, seasoning with salt and pepper.. Add the lamb and saute on high heat until browned. Add the onions and cook a few more minutes until they soften.
- Sprinkle flour and stir, then add the wine. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, so the wine bubbles. Lower heat, cover and let cook for about half hour.
- Drain the artichokes of their lemon water, and add to the meat. Continue cooking, covered, for another 20 minutes or so, or until the artichokes are tender. If the pan seems dry, add a 1/2 cup or so of water.
- In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks and lemon juice.
- Turn off the heat under the pan, and add in the egg mixture, stir well and cover. Let the pan sit for 3 minutes or so. Add the mint and serve.
Your Egg cups are so cute!
Thanks! Bought them about 20 years ago!
If you use Chrome browser, you can have it automatically translate from Italian to English (or whatever language). Just right click on the page and choose translate to English !!
Thanks for the tip!