Abbacchio Pasquale
Abbacchio, a long-ago Roman term for a newborn lamb, is the prescripted dish of Easter. And older than history is the innocent, rousing scent of it roasting with branches of wild rosemary, curling out from the kitchen doors of the trattorie in the Trastevere on Sundays in the spring, beckoning one to table together.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Step 2
Wipe the lamb with absorbent paper towels, and with a small, sharp knife make 1/2-inch slits, 1/2-inch deep, over the flesh. With a mezzaluna or a sharp knife, mince the garlic, rosemary, sage, and 2 teaspoons salt together, making a paste. Rub the paste over the incisions, urging it inside them and using any remaining paste as a general rub for the lamb.
Step 3
Mix 1/4 cup of the olive oil with the lemon juice and massage the scented oil over all the surfaces of the lamb. Set the lamb aside.
Step 4
Wash and dry the potatoes, cutting in two or three pieces any that are larger than a prune, and place them in a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons salt, generous grindings of pepper, the fennel seeds, and 1/3 cup of the oil, rolling the potatoes about in the oil and coating them well. Turn the potatoes out into a roasting pan just large enough to contain them comfortably.
Step 5
Place a rack, its legs resting inside the roasting pan, over the potatoes and on it position the legs of lamb. The lamb must be sitting directly over the potatoes so its juices will fall directly on them. Pour 1/2 cup of the wine over the lamb (letting it fall wherever it will over the potatoes) and roast the whole for 15 minutes.
Step 6
Rinse the anchovies, dry on paper towels, and remove their heads and bones. Crush lightly with a fork and set aside.
Step 7
Lower the oven’s heat to 375 degrees and continue roasting for another 20 to 25 minutes, basting it two or three times with more wine or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 130 degrees. At this point, the flesh will be pink and full of rosy juices, some of which will have already drizzled down onto the potatoes. One could roast the lamb a bit longer—until the thermometer reads 135 degrees, risking those gorgeous juices. Remove the whole roasting contraption from the oven and lay the lamb to rest on a carving tray.
Step 8
Remove the potatoes to a warmed bowl. Pour off most of the fat remaining in the roasting pan and place the pan over a lively flame, stirring, scraping at its residue, and adding the remaining wine and the anchovies. Reduce to make a simple pan sauce. Carve the lamb at table, presenting it with the roasted potatoes and the pan juices.
Step 9
Find a simple Frascati if you can and chill it down to its toes. Otherwise, any of the whites from the Castelli Romani—the hills of Rome—will do nicely, as would an Est!, Est!!, Est!!! from Montefiascone.
