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Tag: Abbacchio

Spallucce di Abbacchio (Lamb) alla Cacciatora

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On September 24, 2025

In Entrees

This is another of the classic Roman abbacchio recipes, featuring the front legs of the lamb, cooked in the “hunter’s style” with anchovies and served with bitter greens.

For this dish, we will use the front legs of the lamb, the shoulders and the vertebrae cut into pieces of about 2-3 inches (ask the butcher to do it for you, or, if you prefer, you can chop it if you have a Mannaia (cleaver) and a big butcher block.

I serve this with a slightly bitter salad. The best is the Italian Catalonian chicory, or puntarelle, which makes an excellent side salad. If you cannot find Catalonian chicory, consider radicchio, endive, or escarole.

Ingredients

For the Meat

  • Front legs, shoulders, and vertebrae, cut into 2-to-3-inch pieces
  • 1 or 2 tsp. tomato paste, depending how intense it is
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary
  • 1 glass white wine
  • About ¼ cup (60 ml) of extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste

For the Sauce

  • 1/5 cup (50 ml) white vinegar
  • ¾ cup (200 ml) of olive oil
  • 4 anchovies, or 8 filets of anchovies
  • 2 garlic cloves

Preparation

Preparation of the Sauce

  1. Combine the white vinegar, olive oil, anchovies, and garlic cloves in a food processor or a blender and mix well. You can prepare the sauce up to 1 week in advance and keep in the refrigerator, in a tightly closed container. If made fresh, allow it to rest for 15 minutes before using it.

Preparation of the Meat

  1. Using a large, non-stick skillet, add just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan, put the heat to high. When the oil is hot, add the chopped lamb, and let them take a golden/brown color on all sides for 2 to 3 minutes.
  2. Lower the heat and add the smashed garlic cloves. As soon as the garlic becomes gold, remove it. Add the tomato paste and 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and olive oil sauce.  Simmer for 1 minute and add the white wine, increasing the heat to allow the alcohol to evaporate, about 1 minute.
  3. Add the rosemary, salt, black pepper, and add 6 cups (1.5 liters) of water. Partially cover the pan and let it cook on medium or medium-low for about 45 minutes.
  4. Remove the pieces of lamb from the skillet with a slotted spoon and reserve in a large bowl. Increase the heat, cooking until the liquid becomes very thick, almost like a paste.  De-glaze if necessary with some water, then pour this sauce on top of the lamb pieces and serve.
  5. Consider a serving of a salad, such as the puntarella (chicory salad) dressed with the sauce.
  6. Buon appetito!

 

Braciolette di Abbacchio (Lamb Ribs)

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On September 24, 2025

In Entrees

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs, beaten in a shallow bowl
  • 1 cup (300 grams) of breadcrumbs, poured in a large shallow bowl
  • 1 cup (300 grams) of all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups (800 ml) olive oil, or, if you prefer, vegetable oil
  • 1 small sprig of rosemary, minced
  • 3 lemons, quartered?
  • Ribs of the abbacchio, sliced into individual rib-chops
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  1. Mix the minced rosemary with the breadcrumbs in a large, shallow bowl.
  2. Using a large non-stick skillet, add the olive (or vegetable) oil and turn the heat to high.
  3. Beat the eggs in a large shallow bowl. Immerse the ribs into the beaten eggs, then dip each into the breadcrumb and rosemary mixture.
  4. Transfer the ribs into the pan with olive oil, turn once. [How many minutes per side?] They will be ready in a couple of minutes, as soon as they are golden. Pull them from the skillet, allow them to drain briefly on a platter lined with paper towels, then add pepper and salt
  5. Serve immediately with some slices of fresh lemon.

Coratella – A Classic Roman Abbacchio Recipe

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On September 24, 2025

In Dr. Michele Carbone

This is my preferred abbacchio dish, which consists of the cooked organs of the milk-fed lamb, or abbacchio. It includes the liver, heart, spleen, and lungs. If you are in Rome go to Sora Lella, one of the remaining old, real Roman restaurants located in a beautiful old house/tower in the middle of the city in the Isola Tiberina, the only restaurant on this tiny island. It’s a15 minute walk from Saint Peter’s piazza. If you go there, order this fantastic dish. They taught me how to make it.

Ingredients

  • 3 large “Roman” Artichokes
  • 3 red onions, cut in thin slices
  • Vinegar [what kind and how much]
  • Fresh squeezed lemon juice [how much?]
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and smashed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 3 leaves of sage
  • 1 and 1/3 cups (314 ml) of extra virgin olive oil, evenly divided into 2/3 cups (175 ml) and 2/3 cups (175 ml) for different parts of the cooking process
  • 1 -2 chopped Calabrian red peppers
  • 1 cup of white wine
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  1. Put the coratella in a bowl with water and some vinegar [HOW MUCH VINEGAR].
  2. Soak the coratella for about 30 minutes. Rinse the coratella well.
  3. While the coratella is soaking with the water and vinegar, clean the artichokes, then cut each artichoke in 8 pieces. Put the cut artichokes in a large bowl with water and lemon juice for 20 minutes.
  4. Chop the rinsed coratella in small pieces and separate into two bowls; the liver pieces should be in a different bowl than the other organs. The liver is kept separate from the other organs because it cooks more rapidly.
  5. Put the 2/3 cup of olive oil into a medium-sized saucepan on high heat. Add 1 smashed clove of garlic and the artichoke pieces. Once the artichoke pieces take a nice gold color on all sides (about 5 minutes), lower the heat and add 1 cup of hot water. Cook for another 10 minutes on low.
  6. In a non-stick skillet on medium heat, add olive oil (about 2/3 of a cup) and the onion slices. Simmer for 2 to3 minutes. Add the herbs and the chopped lungs (these are not available in the US) and partially cover, simmering for another 10 minutes.
  7. After 10 minutes, raise the heat to medium-low and add the chopped heart and spleen, the chopped Calabrian pepper, salt, and a glass of white wine. Continue to simmer partially covered for about 8 minutes. Add the liver, then use a slotted spoon [or do you include the 2/3 cup olive oil used to cook the artichokes] to add the artichokes from the other pan. If it looks dry—it should not— add some water.  Mix well and cook partially covered on medium heat for 5 more minutes.
  8. Add a little more olive oil, taste for hot pepper and salt and add more if you like.
  9. Serve this to your guests while it’s still hot.

Five Roman Abbacchio Recipes (suckling lamb recipes) for 12 People

By

On September 24, 2025

In Entrees

Abbacchio, a suckling, or milk-fed lamb, must be 8 weeks old or less and should not weigh more than 7 kg (15 lb.)  This is a delicacy in Rome, and there are four typical Roman dishes that are prepared from 1 abbacchio. Each dish alone feeds 4 people:

One entire abbacchio will feed 10 -12 people. For a perfect dinner, start with a Rigatoni with Mussels, Bacala and Pecorino (another classic Roman recipe), and then continue with the four classic abbacchio dishes.

In addition, at the end I list a fifth recipe that is quite popular in the South of Italy: the head of the lamb. I have seen that in the US my guests first say, “No thank you!” Then they try it, and ask for more and more, because it is delicious.  If you cook it, I suggest you serve it as an appetizer with bruschetta, a toasted bread with some olive oil.

Italian Catalonian chicory, or puntarelle, makes an excellent side salad for any or all of these abbacchio dishes. If you cannot find Catalonian chicory, consider radicchio, endive, or escarole.

 

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