Pecora alla Callara

Mutton cooked for hours in a copper cauldron with nothing but herbs and wine.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 2.5 kg mutton, on the bone, in large pieces
• 400 ml dry white wine
• 6 garlic cloves
• 4 sprigs rosemary, 4 bay leaves, a bunch of wild thyme and savory
• 2 dried chillies
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons salt

Method

1. Use mutton rather than lamb, on the bone, and cut it large — this is a shepherds' dish for an old animal and lamb falls apart to nothing in the time it takes.
2. Put everything in a heavy pot with the oil, the herbs tied in a bundle, and the wine. NO TOMATO, NO ONION, NO STOCK AND NO WATER.
3. Cover it tightly and cook on the lowest possible heat for 4 hours without lifting the lid for the first two.
4. THE LIQUID IS WHAT COMES OUT OF THE MEAT. A fatty old animal releases a great deal, and the whole method is that nothing is added to dilute it — if it looks dry in the first hour, the heat is too high rather than the pot too empty.
5. After 4 hours take the lid off and let it reduce 20 minutes while you turn the pieces in what is left.
6. Lift the herb bundle out, season, and serve the pieces with the juices and bread. It wants nothing else.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes