MENU
Tossed Green Salad
Spaghetti con Salsa di Noci all Sarda (Spaghetti with walnut sauce, Sardinia style)
Roast Lamb
Strawberries with Mascarpone
Sourdough Baguettes
RECIPES
Spaghetti con Salsa di Noci all Sarda (adapted from The Vegetarian Table: Italy by Julia della Croce (Chronicle Books))
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
6 quarts water
2 tablespoons salt (you don't need this)
1 pound spaghetti - nothing finer than spaghetti, I used a wider noodle, linguini I think
1 cup reserved pasta cooking water
1 cup (1/4 pound) freshly grated cheese, fior di Sargegna or Tuscan caciotta (I used a good Parmesan)
Grind walnuts in a food processor until finely ground but not pasty.
In a skillet large enough to contain (and stir) the pasta later, heat together ground nuts, olive oil, garlic, and parsley over a gentle heat until the garlic is softened but not colored. Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.
Cook the pasta. When not quite al dente, drain it, reserving 1 cup of cooking water. While the pasta is still dripping, transfer it to the skillet under gentle heat. Stir to distribute the sauce through the pasta. Add as much of the reserved water as needed to moisten sauce (probably less than 1/2 cup).
Add the cheese to the pasta, toss, and serve immediately.
Roast Lamb
Marinate a tied, rolled, lamb roast for at least 4 hours, or overnight in a (mixed) marinade of:
2 tsps. freshly ground pepper
3 tbsps finely chopped fresh rosemary
3 tbsps olive oil (recipe recommended using garlic flavored olive oil with pieces of garlic, but I just added 3 cloves of freshly pressed garlic to regular EV olive oil)
Toss this mixture into a plastic bag with the lamb, manipulate until well coated, and refrigerate until time to cook.
Preheat oven to 425
Roast for 15 minute in lower 1/3 of oven on a rack in a large roasting pan. Turn roast over, and cook for another 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and continue roasting until desired doneness - 125-130 for very rare to medium rare (1 hour or more), Baste lamb with pan juices, if you get them, every 20 minutes, I didn't get significant juices.
The recipe goes on to prepare a sauce with pan drippings in which you sauté shallots, later adding red wine and unsalted chicken stock, reducing, etc. I did not do this because I did not anticipate getting enough drippings, and I didn't. Maybe you need a fatter piece of lamb.
Dessert
DON'T serve fresh berries with mascarpone, I was not happy with the taste and texture (mouth feel).