Lamb torcinelli with friggitello peppers and balsamic vinegar by starred chef Niko Romito.
“When Niko Romito got his first Michelin star in 2007, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that haute cuisine was being made in the southern borders of my province of L’Aquila. Rivisondoli is a delightful mountain village, known since the postwar period for its living nativity scene. Niko and his sister Giuliana, in taking over the family pastry shop, had launched an impossible challenge: self-taught cooks out to conquer the world. After the second star in 2009, I was struck by Niko’s decision to open a school for young cooks in 2011: teaching others is always synonymous with generosity. I therefore decided to offer a scholarship to one of their deserving young cooking students. The rest is well known: the transfer of the Reale to the ancient convent of Casadonna in the Abruzzo National Park, the conquest of the third star in 2013 and the first Stars of the East at the helm of the Bulgari restaurants. Niko has remained the same but I would never have dreamed that one day he would pair two of his magnificent recipes to our wines.”
Bruno Vespa
The recipe
Ingredients for 4 persons
Preparation time: 1h 25′
Ingredients
For the torcinelli
Lamb liver 200 g
Lamb sweetbreads g 200
Lamb lung g 200
Lamb heart 100 g
Pork lace fat g 200
garlic 1 clove
Salt and pepper, to taste
Friggitello Cream
Friggitello peppers, a.k.a. friarelli (sweet green peppers) g 300
Spring onions 2
20 g extra virgin olive oil
Salt, to taste
To decorate
Whole friggitello peppers 4
Mint leaves.
40 g extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Preparation
- Put the pork lace fat in cold salted water to purge for at least 12 hours.
- Prepare the torcinelli: Clean, rinse and dry the lamb parts: slice them all into strips and combine well; season with salt and pepper and divide the mixture into four portions.
Cut the pork lace fat into four rectangles: roll a part of the lamb mixture in each, forming four wraps of about 10 cm in length and 23 cm in diameter.
Place the torcinelli in a vacuum cooking bag with a clove of unpeeled garlic: seal and steam for 40 minutes at 60 ° C. Then immediately cool the bag in water and ice. - For the friggitello cream: sauté the finely sliced onions in a tablespoon of oil, remove the internal seeds from the friggitello peppers, cut the peppers into rings and add to the sauté. If necessary, add a ladle of hot water and leave them to simmer until completely cooked. Season with salt and then process to obtain a cream. Keep warm.
- Brown the four torcinelli in a very hot non-stick frying pan without any added fat; grill them on all sides. Transfer them into another pan and roast,with a drop of oil added, at very high heat: the outside must be very crunchy and a little scorched.
Cut each torcinello in half and drain off any internal liquids.
Separately, in a pan with hot oil, fry the four whole friggitelli peppers.
Composition
Spread the friggitello cream on the bottom of the plate, place a lamb torcinello on it and garnish with a hot whole friggitello, after having dried any excess oil off it on absorbent paper. Decorate with a few drops of balsamic vinegar and some mint leaves.
Utensils
Vacuum bag
Steamer
Non-stick pan
Blender
