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The dish
A dish you only eat in L’Aquila
The unusual pairing that surprises everyone who tries it.
We have a thousand ways of cooking lamb, and many can be enjoyed elsewhere too. Lamb stew with egg, though, is eaten almost only in L’Aquila: and not everywhere, and not all the time.
Put like that it does not sound special, but cooked by expert hands it is delicious. In our family the expert hands belong to my mother-in-law, who makes it only once a year, at Easter: perhaps that is part of why it is so good and so sought after.
In other parts of Abruzzo a similar version is made with cheese: lamb «cacio e ova».
What you need
Ingredients
For about 1 kg of lamb (serves 4).
- 1 kg lamb
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 whole egg
- 1 garlic clove
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Rosemary to taste
- ½ glass white wine
- Salt and pepper
Step by step
Method
- Cut the lamb into fairly small pieces and put it in a non-stick pan.
- Add oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic and the white wine.
- Cook slowly over a low heat until the meat is almost done.
- Drain off the excess fat from the pan.
- In a bowl beat the egg with the lemon juice and pour it over the meat.
- Put the pan back on the heat and stir quickly for a couple of minutes, until the sauce sets around the meat without turning into an omelette.
From our home kitchen
Tips
- The critical moment is the last one: low heat and quick stirring, or the egg will scramble.
- Removing the fat well before adding the egg makes the dish lighter and the sauce creamier.
- Serve it at once, piping hot, with rustic bread to mop up the sauce.
- It pairs well with a Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo rosé or a young red.
Note: it takes a little practice to get it perfect, but it is worth trying: you will be amazed at how good this pairing is.
Gallery
Photos
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Tradition
History and trivia
Using egg to bind meat is a very old technique in central Italian cooking, and it echoes the Easter symbol of rebirth.
In L’Aquila lamb with egg is the dish of Easter Sunday, after Mass, alongside the other seasonal specialities such as the cheese «pizza».
Did you know? in the L’Aquila tradition Easter often starts with a breakfast of cheese «pizza», hard-boiled eggs and cured meats, and continues with lamb: the richest day of the year at the table.