Winging It…

July 10, 2007 /

Last Monday, Cherry and Eric decided they’d rather have dinner at our house than be on their honeymoon in Hawaii.  OK, maybe that wasn’t EXACTLY how the decision was made, but nonetheless, we invited them over for dinner, and they said they might come…Cherry was feeling a bit puny, and wasn’t sure that she would be up to it.  So, what to cook?  We were out and about, and needed to get groceries before we would know the answer.  If they could come to dinner, we would want a lot of filling food, because Eric has a super fast metabolism.  Also if they could come, we should make something with red meat, hence lots of iron for Miss Cherry, who’s puny-feeling comes partially from being anemic right now.  However, if they could not come, we would want to have made something that would be yummy as leftovers, since there would then be plenty of it sitting around.  I suggested we might make spaghetti and meatballs, but Ted reminded me that we almost always make spaghetti and meatballs when they come over for dinner (we’re always on a quest to fill Eric up).  Also, the Alice Waters cookbook that we use for this recipe has been packed.  So, we decided to make a yummy linguine and lamb dish for the young newlyweds.  Problem? That cookbook was also packed.  I looked online for the recipe, but I had no luck.  So, we had to try to remember the recipe from times past.  Seems we did a fair job, as the pasta came out very yummy.  The key is to simmer the lamb for at LEAST 45 minutes, and preferably the 1.5 hours the recipe suggests. I tried to rush it once, when we had other guests, and it was kind of tough and not nearly so yummy.  Here’s my best guess at Linguine with Lamb Sauce, from Pasta Fresca: An Exuberant Collection of Fresh, Vivid, and Simple Pasta Recipes, by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman.  The tomato sauce is yummy alone over fresh pasta.  Mmmm.

Linguine With Lamb Sauce

Lamb Sauce
1 white onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 lb lamb stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
10 oz. frozen peas
salt and pepper, to taste

Melt butter in olive oil over medium low heat.  Add onion and garlic, simmer until onion wilts and is soft, but not brown.  Add lamb, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.  Add peas, cover again, and simmer another 45 minutes.

Tomato Sauce
1/2 small white onion, diced
1 clove garlic
olive oil (maybe a tblsp or two)
1 28 oz can tomatoes
1 carrot, chopped fine
5 – 6 leaves fresh basil
salt and pepper, to taste

Sautee onion, garlic, and carrots over medium low heat.  When soft, add tomatoes and simmer until sauce coats a spoon (maybe 15 – 20 minutes).  Add basil, salt, and pepper.  If you have a food mill, use that, and if not, your Cuisinart or even blender will work fine. Puree sauce.  Correct for seasoning, if needed.

To Serve: Boil 1 lb linguine in salted water according to package directions.  When al dente, serve by placing a serving of pasta on a plate, and covering with the lamb and pea mixture.  Top with a hearty spoonful of the tomato sauce, and pass some parmigiano reggiano at the table. 

Mmmm.  Serves 4, even with one super-fast metabolism-type-hungry-person, as long as you also serve yummy french bread and dessert.  And he probably had a snack when he got home.

12 Comments

  • hellomelissa

    July 10, 2007 at 6:01 am

    sounds like you did an excellent job from memory! life sucks when most of your life is packed up in boxes, doesn’t it? when you finally reopen them it’ll be like christmas… only better!

  • J

    July 10, 2007 at 8:39 am

    Gina, though I think many of us would like a LITTLE BIT of Eric’s metobolic speed, the full impact is a pain in the butt. He can’t leave the house without snacks, or at least planned snacks, because he’ll get sick if he doesn’t eat all of the time. I think I would like to try that out for a day, maybe a week, and then it would turn into a pain in the ass. I can hardly figure out what to eat as often as I do now…

  • Maya's Granny

    July 10, 2007 at 12:24 pm

    I think that being Eric for a month would be heaven and would cure anyone of a weight problem. Once you had to eat so often, you would not want to ever have to do that again.

    By the by, check out the comments on Best Buddies on my blog — one of Auntie Maya’s sisters turned up, I followed her back to her blog and commented and she told me she has met you and likes you.

  • Cherry

    July 10, 2007 at 1:10 pm

    All of you people reading this, you must try this recipe if you enjoy lamb. This was so good!

    Thank you to Py and J for being so flexible and making a great meal and bonus… Eric totally got full!
    It’s glorious to have such great friends.

  • lalunas

    July 10, 2007 at 3:24 pm

    I think we got to part take of this recipe once. It was very good. I love the picture you posted. That one is my all time favorite one…