Pecora alla Materana
Sheep stew with pecorino and salami
Sheep, lamb, mutton (Italian castrato) are typical meat in the south of Italy. In fact sheep-farming was a very common work in the past. Sheep stew with pecorino and salami has two special ingredients: soppressata, kind of salami made with pork meat in Basilicata and other Italian regions and pecorino, a typical cheese of Italy. Look at other lamb recipes.
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yeld for 2
- 500g (1.1 pound) sheep meat
- 400ml (13.5 fluid ounces - 1 2/3 cup) white vinegar
- 200g (7 ounces) onions
- 200g (7 ounces) ripe but firm tomatoes
- 50g (1 3/4 ounce) soppressata or salami, in a slice
- A celery stalk
- 1 hot chili pepper
- 30g (1 ounce) pecorino (ewe's cheese), grated
- 200g (7 ounces) potaoes
- 1 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Time:
preparation: 20 minutes
plus marinating time
cooking: about 2 hours
total: about 3 hours - Difficulty:
easy recipe - Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: 722 (kCal) 37 % GDA (*) - 3020 (kJ)
Protein: 35.9 (g) 72 % GDA
Total fat: 54.3 (g) 78 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 23.9 (g) 9 % GDA
Sugars: 9.2 (g) 11 % GDA
Sheep stew with salami and pecorino recipe
Preparation and cooking
- - Remove the visible fat from the sheep meat and bone
- - Cut the meat into chunks and place in a bowl.
- - Pour in the white vinegar and the same amount of cold water.
- - Let the sheep meat marinate for about 30 minutes.
- - Slice the onion finely.
- - Put the onion together with the olive oil in a large saucepan.
- - Let the onions fry very lightly in the olive oil in a pan on a very low heat for about 30 minutes (marinating time) adding a little ladle of hot water now and then in order not to brown them.
- - Meanwhile peel the ripe tomatoes and cube their pulp.
- - Clean, wash and slice the celery.
- - Cut the salami into little pieces.
- - Then remove the meat from the marinate and pat dry with kitchen paper.
- - Add the sheep pieces in the saucepan and brown on all sides for some minutes, stirring.
- - At this point add the tomatoes, celery, salami and chili pepper.
- - Cover with hot water, season to taste with salt and continue cooking, half-covered, on a very low heat, stirring now and then, for about a couple of hours or until the meat is tender.
- - Half an hour before the end of cooking add the potatoes too, after peeling and cubing them.
Add other hot water if necessary.
Just before serving
- - Let the cooking juice is well reduced.
- - Sprinkle the sheep dish with pecorino and serve.
Note
Tips
- - Choose between two different cuts of sheep: shoulder or leg. The best is the leg.
- - The meat of sheep has a very particular taste, be sure your guests like it.
- - Follow these suggestions to reduce cooking time: buy the sheep meat and then "forget" it in the freeze for some months, cut the meat into pieces as you can see in the photo and then marinate the meat in water and vinegar for about 2 hours.
- - If you want to know more about soppressata read this page on Wikipedia. The soppressata is an Italian salami well known from the north to the south of our country, made with pork meat. Besides we link 2 sites where you eventually may buy it: igourmet and marianofoods
- - In the photo you can see the sheep stew before serving with no pecorino. So you can see the details of the dish easily.
Menu planning
- - What about preparing sheep stew for a get-together with friends? Sheep stew is a tasty dish but not all people like sheep meat. Besides it can be difficult to digest it and not very easy to plan a complete menu with it.
So the only solution is to throw a thematic dinner menu inviting only people who like sheep taste. Accompany the main dish that is sheep stew with a lot of assorted seasonal vegetables, not too much dressed. Close your meals with fruit salad or a cake with no custard and whipped cream.
Healthy eating
- - Daily menu. Nutrition facts tells us a clear thing: we can't often eat the sheep stew. It's rich in calories, so rich to be considered a single-course dish. Not only. You have to be careful in planning the other meals of the day to stay within the suggested calories. Choose low-calorie, vegetarian lunch.
The amount of fat is very high too, even though in our version all the visible fat was removed from the raw meat. I considered this fact when I calculated the nutrition facts. If you want a dish with the same calories and fat you have to follow our directions and doses strictly.
Somebody could ask if there is a way to have a lighter recipe. The only thing to do is not to add pecorino and soppressata. In this case the recipe isn't made according to Basilicata style. It's a simple sheep stew but it is a very tasty dish in the same way. Here's its nutrtion facts!
Energy kCal 571 kJ 2387
Protein 25,2g
Total fat 42,4g
Total carbohydrates 23,6g
Sugars 8,9g
Fiber 4,4g
Is there anything better? calories and protein are only partially reduced, total fat is less but always high. Is it worth it? Perhaps it would be better to eat this dish once in a while according to the traditional recipe :-) - - Celebration menu. The sheep stew is too aromatic and heavy to digest to be prepared for a menu with a lot of courses. Furthermore I've just written sheep meat isn't appreciated by everyone so it would be better to create a theme evening with your friends as told in the tips and menu planning.
- - This sheep dish has only 4.4 grams of fiber. The daily value is 23g. Another reason to choose foods rich in fiber for the other meals of the day.
- - 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 suggestion is: Aglianico del Vulture (red wine from Basilicata-Italy)
The author Loretta Sebastiani lives in Italy (IT)
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