Paula Wolfert and I revised this fabulous dish of hers for cooking in my wood-fired oven. The key is to cook it until the lamb is falling-apart tender. The recipe is adapted from Paula’s book, The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen. It comes from the southern Italian region of Apulia, where it is baked in a shallow terra-cotta dish called a tiella. You can make it entirely in the wood-fired oven, or cook the onions and brown the lamb on the stove top, then move it all to the oven to finish cooking.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4 to 6 as a main course
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the lamb, milk, bay leaves, fennel, rosemary, and garlic in a large pot. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 4 to 6 hours.
Step 2
Prepare a medium-hot fire (425°F) in a wood-fired oven or cooker.
Step 3
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a baking dish over medium heat and sauté the onion until pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the lamb from the milk bath and pat the chunks dry with paper toweling. Reserve the milk and aromatics. Lightly salt and pepper the lamb, then dust with a little flour. Add the lamb to the same pan over medium heat and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes.
Step 4
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut into 1/8-inch-thick crosswise slices. Soak the potatoes in the reserved milk. Season the browned lamb with a little more salt and pepper. Transfer the onion and lamb to a side dish. Tilt the pan and remove any oil. Add a few tablespoons of water to the pan and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reserve the liquid.
Step 5
Rub an ovenproof 2 1/2-quart clay baker with the clove of garlic, then lightly oil. Scatter the onion slices in the baker. Drain the potatoes, reserving the milk. Layer one half of the drained potatoes on top of the onions and sprinkle with pepper. Spread the meat in one layer; sprinkle with all of the parsley, half of the cheese, and half of the bread crumbs. Layer the remaining drained potatoes on top. Add the reserved pan liquid to the milk mixture and pour over the potatoes. Press down on the potatoes so there will be some room for expansion. Place the pan over low heat and slowly bring to a boil, about 15 minutes.
Step 6
Sprinkle the top of the potatoes with the remaining cheese and bread crumbs and the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and set the pan on the floor of the oven to bake for about 15 minutes. Move to a cooler section of the oven (where it is about 325°F) and continue baking for 1 1/4 hours. Remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes, or until crusty and golden. Let rest for 30 minutes, then serve warm.
