A recipe created by Chef Guglielmo Giudice, the chef at Rivington, the first New York-inspired restaurant inside the Hyatt Centric Milan Centrale hotel. We have chosen to pair this with an Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Terre di Cariano 2016 Cecilia Beretta.
L’agneau de pre-salé è un tipo di agnello allevato nei prati di paludi salate della Francia, in particolare in Normandia e parti del Regno Unito e dei Paesi Bassi. Gli agnelli pascolano in territori ricoperti di erbe con un alto contenuto di salinità e iodio, facendo sì che la loro carne abbia un sapore distinto e naturalmente sapido.
Agneau de pré-salé is a type of lamb raised in the salt meadows of France, especially in Normandy, as well as in parts of Britain and the Netherlands. The lambs graze in areas where the vegetation has a high salinity and iodine content which gives the meat a distinct and naturally saline flavor.
Ingredients for 2 people:
1kg rack of agneau de pré-salé lamb ribs.
For the herbed bread crumbs: 100g bread crumbs, 50g parsley, 1 thyme sprig, 6 basil leaves, 4 mint leaves, extra-virgin olive oil as needed, salt and pepper.
For the lamb gravy: 1 onion, ½ carrot, 1 rosemary sprig, 1 thyme sprig, 200g of lamb trimmings, 200g of lamb bones that have been baked at 200°C for 20 minutes.
For the wild berry sauce: 30g blueberries, 30g blackberries, 30g raspberries and 1 knob of butter.
For the truffled potatoes: 2 potatoes, EVOO, salt, pepper and a chunk of black truffle.
Directions:
For the herbed bread crumbs: Blanch the aromatic leaves for 30 seconds and then cool them in ice water so they retain their color. Dry the leaves with a cloth and then blend them with the bread crumbs in a mixer. Add a trickle of EVOO and salt and pepper to taste.
For the lamb gravy: Sauté the vegetables, add the meat trimmings that have been previously brazed in a hot pan and then the bones. Add 500g of ice to the pot and continue to cook. Repeat this process with ice every time the gravy becomes dry (3 times). Cook for around 2 hours.
For the wild berry sauce: Sauté the blueberries, blackberries and raspberries for a few minutes in the butter. Add a ladle (50cl) of the gravy and mix together.
For the truffled potatoes: Wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil and bake them for around an hour at 180°C. Once they are cooked, peel the potatoes and mash them together with a fork and season with salt, pepper and EVOO. Mix in as much grated truffles as desired.
For the meat: Sear the lamb chops that have previously been cut from the rack together with aromatic salt. Air seal the lamb together with a wedge of onion that has been brazed on a skillet, an unpeeled garlic clove and some EVOO. Cook in a roner for 90 minutes at 56°C or bake unsealed for 10 minutes at 180°C, making sure the meat remains red inside.
Once cooked, brush the lamb with some honey that has been diluted with warm water (if desired). Coat the chops with the herbed bread crumbs and bake for another 5 minutes at 185°C.
Prepare each plate first with the lamb chops and then with two quenelles of truffled potatoes and top with the lamb gravy and wild berry sauce, both hot.
Wine to pair:
(edited by Stefania Vinciguerra)
Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Terre di Cariano 2016 Cecilia Beretta
Very intense ruby red color. Aromas of green coffee, wild berries, blackberry jam. Sweet and then austere taste, again notes of herbs, tannic presences. Full bodied.
Production area: San Pietro in Cariano, with soils of alluvial origin, with fine, gravelly, calcareous sediments.
Grape varieties: Corvina 60%, Rondinella 25%, Corvinone 5%, Croatina 5%, Oseleta 5%.
Harvest: The grapes are harvested by hand and arranged to dry in boxes inside the “fruttaio” for about 3 months where the bunches lose 25-30% of their weight, resulting in a concentration of the substances in the berry.
Vinification: After pressing, alcoholic fermentation begins in steel fermenters for about 1 month at a controlled temperature. Continuous hand-pulling is carried out to help extract color and structure. Next, about 70% of the wine is transferred to French oak and Italian cherry barrels while the rest is transferred to tonneau, where malolactic fermentation takes place. After about 24 months of maturation in wood, the wine is racked into steel tanks and later bottled.
2016 vintage: Winter passed with temperatures above seasonal averages in all growing areas with no precipitation except for a small snow event. The following months saw alternating temperatures with values below historical averages particularly in July and August. Summer saw typical thunderstorm events, with a single hail event affecting a small area of Valpolicella. The weather settled into fine weather with the arrival of September, when high temperatures and good ventilation that kept humidity low allowed a good conclusion to the growing cycle. The autumn ended with pleasant temperatures until early December.
Alcohol content: 15.5% vol.
Trivia: Through Cecilia Beretta, the Pasqua family aims to rediscover the strength and personality of the traditional wines of Valpolicella and Soave, the precious fruit of a unique and original history and culture.
