MACCHERONI ALLA CHITARRA (home-made macaroni) WITH ABRUZZESE LAMB RAGU’

Recipe: 500 grarns of “maccheroni alla chitarra" (or fresh pasta) 1 lamb shoulder, 150 grams of celery, carrots and onions, 1 clove of garlic, a spicy rnince made of rosemary, sage, laurel, thyme, salt, pig's cheek, black pepper and garlic, 800 grams of peeled tomatoes extra virgin olive oil, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo wine, 50 grams of seasoned cheese pecorino (sheep's milk cheese) a little "00" flour, cooking string.

Cooking instructions:

Bone the lamb shoulder, stuff the inner part of it with the spicy mince and the pig's cheek, tie it up with the string, add salt and flour, heat some olive oil in a stewpan and then brown the lamb shoulder. Add celery, carrot, onion and a clove of garlic and wait till the whole mixture becomes golden. Add two glasses of wine, let the wine evaporate, add the finely chopped peeled tomatoes and leave the stewpan on the heat at least two hours. Drain the meat, cut it in even slices, and cut the remaining parts in tiny bits; then mash the meat sauce and add the little bits of meat. The resulting sauce (ragu’) will be used to flavour the macaroni, along with grated cheese.

    PASTA DI FARRO CON ZUCCHINE E ZAFFERANO (spelt pastry with saffron and Italian squash)

Recipe: 500 grams of fine spelt pastry, 300 grams of Italian courguettes, 1 litre of vegetable soup, 20 grams of butter, 20 grams of "00" flour, 1 litre of extra virgin olive oil ,1 sachet of saffron, 1 clove of garlic, half an onion , 50 grams of grated permesan cheese.

Cooking instructions:

Cut the courguettes into little cubes and stew them with the oil, garlic and onion; prepare a sauce with half of the vegetable soup (the remaining half will be used to moisten the courguettes), butter and flour. Add the saffron moistened in a little soup and, with this mixture, flavour the spelt pastry cooked "al dente" in salt water.Whisk the whole with grated permesan cheese and serve.

    COSCIOTTO D’AGNELLO TARTUFATO (truffled leg of lamb)

Recipe: 1 lamb's leg ,2 spoonfuls of pate’ made of "porcini" mushrooms with white Italian truffle, a spicy mince made whit rosemary, sage, laurel, thyme, salt, pig's cheek, black pepper, garlic and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Cerasuolo wine, cooking string, extra virgin olive oil, 150 grams of celery, carrots and onion, 1 clove of garlic, consomme’ (if necessary).

Cooking instructions:

Bone the leg of lamb, flavour it with salt and spices, spread the pate on it, tie it up and put it in the oven at 180° C. Now and then, turn the meat in the pot in order to brown the surface allover; then add the carrot, the onion and the garlic and to complete browning. Half-way through, add some wine, let it evaporate and, if necessary, add some consomme’ to the mixture. Serve the meat in slices with sauce and baked potatoes.

    TARALLO OR CIAMBELLONE (ring shaped cake) WITH OLIVE OIL MADE WITH LEMON JUICE

Ingredients: eggs (with whisked whites albumens), 1 decilitreof milk, 250 grams of "00" flour, 150 grams of sugar, 1 sachet of vanilla sugar, 1 sachet of baking powder , a pinch of table-salt, grated peel of 1 lemon, lemon juice.

Cooking instructions:

Separate egg yolks from whires; add sugar to the yolks and stir to get a foamy mixture; add flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder, milk, lemon juice and grated lemon peel and, lastly, olive oil with lemon juice added; then whisk the whites with a pinch of table-salt and add this mixture to the first mixture. Pour the mixture into a ring-shaped mould greased with butter and flour and cook it in a pre-heated oven at 170° C.

    CREMA PASTICCERA AL MIELE (cream made whit honey)

Recipe:200 grams of "rnillefiori" honey or "orange-blossom" honey,8 egg yolks, 140 grarns of "00" flour.1 litre of milk, 1 lemon peel, 1 sachet of vanilla sugar, 1 spoonful of Abruzzo punch.

Cooking instructions:

Whip the yolks with honey and two spoonfuls of milk in a copper pot. Add flour and let the mixture rest for a while; separately, boil the milk with the vanilla sugar and the lemon peel. At boiling point, pour the milk into the prepared mixture, taking care not to cook the eggs; stir the mixture till it absorbs the milk; put it back on the heat till it reaches boiling point, stirring the whole mixture. Be careful not to let the cream stick to the bottom of the pot; then take it off the heat, add the punch and let it cool, quickly stirring the cream with a spoon or a whisk. (You can use it to stuff "crespelle" (pancakes) or other dessert, such as ciambellone)