Lamb Chops Calabrian Style & Wine

Ciao a tutti! I am writing to you from beautiful Vittorio Veneto, Italy, the birthplace of my husband Ugo. A quick orientation if I may, Vittorio Veneto is a small town 30 minutes from Venice at the foot of the Italian Alps, nestled in a rolling green valley with grape vines, wheat fields and sheep. Yes, sheep! Large sections of Italy, both in the mountainous north and the highlands of the south, are much better suited to sheep than they are to cattle. Italians have been tending flocks for thousands of years and have prepared lamb every conceivable way. This week’s recipe is actually from my Southern Italian roots, Calabria.

“Agnello alla Calabrese” (lamb Calabrese style) is a simple but colourful, and very Mediterranean, way of preparing lamb. It starts with a rack of lamb cut into their respective chops, pounded and delicately fried in x-virgin olive oil so they are just pink in the middle.

What makes this dish interesting and different is the garnish, which is actually a medley of southern Italian vegetables and fish. It starts with perfectly roasted and prepared sweet coloured peppers, plus grilled zucchini or eggplant and pan-fried mushrooms. The garnish is then topped with fillets of anchovies and capers. The combination of freshness and complexity of the garnish complement the lamb perfectly. Serve with any starch you wish, but may I suggest rosemary roasted baby potatoes.

Two wines for this dish: first is a traditional Ciro produced in Calabria with the Galioppo grape. A 1997 Reserve from “Casa Linardi” . Only produced in exceptional years, quantities are very limited. A full bodied wine, which reveals Mediterranean fruits such as figs and dates. It is overlaid with soft spices and wild roses. Drink at 10 years or more.

Secondly, a 2004 Tempranillo from “Don Baltazar” , Argentina. Medium bodied soft tannins give way to a floral wine with raspberry fruit and spicy oak.