Roast Lamb with Radicchio
This recipe of roast lamb with radicchio use spices like cinnamon sticks and star anise to give an otherwise ordinary Italian dish a nice oriental twist.
The extraordinary thing about radicchio is that it can be served as a salad or boiled and baked as other leafy vegetables such as spinach. In fact, the bitter spicy flavour mellows with preparation. Just try to use radicchio for stuffed pasta as in these mezzelune or give the inimitable gnocchi with pancetta radicchio and blue cheese a go.
The best way to bring about the unique flavours of the slightly bitter Italian chicory is, however, this recipe that combines lamb and radicchio with spices like cinnamon sticks and star anise, giving an otherwise ordinary Italian dish a magic oriental twist.
Ingredients
800 g lamb filet, culotte steak (top sirloin) or cutlets (4 portions)
2 slender heads of radicchio salad
2 red onions
4 cloves of garlic
4 sticks of cinnamon
4 star anise
4 sprigs of rosemary
200 ml balsamic vinegar
200 ml olive oil
sugar, salt and pepper
Preparation
Fry the meat until brown on both sides.
Grease four large pieces of aluminium foil with olive oil.
Rinse the radicchio, cut it in quarters and arrange the salad in the middle of each of the four pieces of foil.
Top each radicchio with thinly sliced onion, a clove of garlic, a spring of rosemary, a stick of cinnamon and an anise star.
Fold up the sides of the foil and pour ½ dl of oil and vinegar over the ingredients adding a little bit of sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
Place the browned meat on top of the salad and close the foil tightly around each portion.
Roast the lamb in a preheated oven (200°C/375°F) for 30-40 minutes depending on the steaks and how red you want them.
Serve roast lamb with radicchio in the packages as they are, or slice the meat and arrange it with the sauce on radicchio and spices before serving.
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