Welcome in the kitchen! Last weekend, during a long beautiful driving up to the hills in the heart of Apulia region, there was time for a visit at a good local butcher’s, where they served me a tender piece of shoulder of lamb filled with a typical local artisan salumi called “capocollo” and “caciocavallo podolico” cheese.

At home, I slowly cooked the shoulder of lamb in a big pan on the kitchen stove. At first, the shoulder of lamb was accurately sautéed in extra virgin olive oil with petals of onion, carrots and selery, herbs, in order to seal the meat and hold the juices inside. Then, it was the turn of pouring some red wine, which steamed after few minutes and finally, the shoulder of lamb was left simmering for a while by adding vegetable bouillon. Minutes before removing the pan from the stove, some potatoes were added and kept on cooking with the shoulder of the lamb. A sprinkle of salt and pepper right in the end.

The dish was served with cremini champignons sautéed in extravirgin olive oil, with a clove of garlic, little white wine, salt, pepper, parsley.

In line with the tradition of the family dishes, I also made some fresh orecchiette and maccheroni al ferretto, which, then, were served “al dente” with a good sauce cooked with our sweet tomatoes from the kitchen garden and some more portions of the shoulder of lamb. The sauce tasted so delicious with the typical fragrance of capocollo and caciocavallo cheese.

Many thanks and let’s keep on taking care one another!