Agnello “cacio e ovo”
Lamb stew with Parmesan cheese and eggs
Cheese-and-egg lamb (or cacio ovo lamb) is a typical recipe of Abruzzo (Italy) whose main ingredients are lamb cutlets, grated cheese (Parmesan or Pecorino), eggs, olive oil and a lot of aromatic herbs. It tastes fantastic!
It's a typical recipe of spring when we Italians are used to serve lamb and eggs. Look for other lamb recipes.
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yeld for 6
- 1200g (2 2/3 pounds) lamb rib chops
- 100g (10 1/2 ounces - 1cup) leek, finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 glasses of dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon dried chives
- 4 whole eggs
- 50g (1 3/4 ounces - 1/2 cup) grated "Parmesan" (if you like)
- Salt
- Chilli
- Time:
preparation: 15 minutes
cooking: 50 minutes
total: about 70 minutes - Difficulty:
easy recipe - Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: 328 (kCal) 17 % GDA (*) - 1374 (kJ)
Protein: 42.3 (g) 85 % GDA
Total fat: 16.8 (g) 25 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 2.0 (g) 1 % GDA
Sugars: 2.0 (g) 3 % GDA
Parmesan-and-egg lamb stew recipe
Preparation
- - Put the olive oil, leek, rosemary, bay leaf and sage in a large saucepan.
- - Remove the visible fat from the lamb rib chops.
- - Wash and pat dry the lamb rib chops and put them in the saucepan.
Cooking
- - Brown the meat for some minutes on both sides on a very gentle heat.
- - Pour in the wine and season to taste with salt and add chilli powder.
- - Bring to the boil.
- - Turn down the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 40 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the lamb meat is tender.
Remember to turn the lamb chops now and then. - - Add some boiling stock or, simplier, water only if necessary.
Just before serving
- - Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and chives (and grated Parmesan, if you like) in a bowl.
- - Pour in the egg mixture over medium heat, stirring continuously until the eggs set.
- - Serve hot.
Note
Tips
- - This version of lamb with Parmesan and eggs is the recipe Loretta learnt from her grandmother who was from Abruzzo.
- - This lamb dish can be prepared the day before. You only have to heat it in the microwave oven. But the best thing is cooking the meat the day before without adding any eggs. These will be poured in few minutes before serving, after warming the lamb.
- - For the best result, specially if you have guests, use only lamb rib chops and not other cuts.
- - You can also use grated Pecorino cheese instead of Parmesan.
- - You can also use freshly ground black pepper instead of chilli.
- - Some people have the habit of adding one or more pieces of lemon zest to the meat with the aromatic herbs. It depends on your personal taste.
Menu planning
- - This is a typical Easter recipe because the lamb meat is combined with eggs according to the Italian tradition. But you can choose it for a special occasion too. In this case it serves more than 6 people because you'll serve this dish along with many other courses. The perfect side-dish is a seasonal salad.
Healthy eating
- - Daily menu. The lamb with eggs and Parmesan cheese is a too elaborated dish to choose it frequenlty for your daily menu. Look at the protein amount, more than half of the maximum recommended daily intake according to the European guideline daily amounts.
Total fat is another sore point. I calculated nutrition facts of this lamb recipe considering lamb muscle tissue deprived of its fat. In this case there are 106 calories (kCal) and total fat is 2.7g per 100g edible portion. I often choose lean lamb.
But if you prefer eat lamb rib chops with all their fat the data are very different. Energy rises to 386 kCal and fat to 36.6g per 100g edible portion. The choice is all yours!
My tip is to choose it for a special occasion.
Anyway if you want to prepare it for your family, be careful to these tips:
- follow strictly the doses and recipe directions to stay within calories, protein and fat as you can read in our nutrition facts
- plan very well the other meals of the day. Prefer vegetables, fruit and food source of carbohydrates (total carbohydrates are very low) but in the right quantity. For example a low-calorie pasta or rice dish with a vegetable sauce for lunch.
Complete your lamb dish with raw or cooked seasonal vegetables. The best solution would be a tasty minestrone before serving this lamb chop dish.
Why have I suggested pasta and rice for lunch? Because most of the foods, main source of protein, should be eaten at dinner and the calories eaten at dinner should be 500 - 600 (25 to 30% of energy needs for an adult if his daily needs are about 2000 calories and he correctly divides his calories into 5 micro-meals). - - Celebration menu If you prepare Parmesan-and-egg lamb for a celebration menu don't worry too much about its nutrition facts. It's a rare event.
- - This lamb dish is poor in fiber: only 1.12g. The daily recommended value is 23g.
- - Do not be afraid of the weight of the ribs. Removed the refuse, your portion of meat is more or less 150g.
- - The recommended portions of meat per week must not be more than 3 to 4, included cuts (not more than one per week).
Anyway give preference to poultry. - - If you want to drink a glass of wine remember you have to add 80-85 calories per 100ml.
- - I remember you our original home recipes can be made without salt. There is always a combination of flavors that substitutes salt. Other no salt recipes ...
By Loretta
What's the right wine ?
Our tip is to pair this lamb recipe with a typical wine of Abruzzo: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo or a Sicilian red wine we like very much: Corvo Rosso
The author Loretta Sebastiani lives in Italy (IT)
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