(Mutton and potato stew, Basilicata-style - Authentic Italian recipes)

mutton and potato stew, italian recipe of the south

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500 g (1.1 lb) mutton, cut into cubes
400 ml (14 fl oz - 1 3/4 C) white vinegar
200 g (7 oz) onions, finely sliced
200 g (7 oz) ripe but firm tomatoes, peeled and diced
50 g (1 3/4 oz) soppressata, in a slice
A celery stick, sliced
1 hot chili pepper
30 g (1 oz) pecorino (ewe's cheese), grated
200 g(7 oz) potaoes, peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Time:
preparation: 20 minutes
plus marinating time
cooking: about 2-3 hours
Difficulty:
easy recipe
Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: XX (kCal) - XX (kJ)
Protein: XX (g)
Total fat: XX (g)
Total carbohydrate: XX (g)
Sugars: XX (g)

Mutton and lamb are typical meat in the south of Italy; in fact sheep-farming was a very common work in the past.
Mutton stew, Basilicata-style is different from any other recipe for some ingredients: soppressata that is a well known salami made with pork meat and pecorino (ewe's cheese), another typical product of Italy.

Put the meat in a bowl, add the vinegar and the same amount of cold water. Let the meat marinate for about 30 minutes. Then remove the meat from the marinate and pat dry with kitchen paper.
Meanwhile let the onions fry very lightly in the olive oil in a pan on a very low heat for about 30 minutes adding a little ladle of hot water now and then in order not to brown them.
Cut the salami into little pieces.
Add the mutton pieces in the pan and saute 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 keep on 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. Add other hot water if necessary.
Let the cooking juice retire very well.
Sprinkle with pecorino and serve.

Note

- Follow these suggestions to reduce cooking time: buy the mutton and then "forget" it in the freeze for some months, cut the meat into little pieces as you can see in the photo and then marinate the meat in water and vinegar for about 2 hours.
- We link 2 sites where you can read about soppressata, Italian salami well known from the north to the south of our country and where you eventually may buy it. http://www.igourmet.com/sopressata.asp http://www.marianofoods.com/cart/meat/sopressata/cat_10.html
- In the photo you can see the mutton before serving with no pecorino.

For a lighter recipe

- What can we do for lowering total fat and calories? The only thing is no to use salami and cheese. In this case the recipe isn't made according to the style of Basilicata: it's a simple mutton stew but it is a very tasty dish in the same way.
The nutrition facts with no salami and cheese are:
Energy kCal kJ
Protein (g)
Total fat (g)
Total carbohydrate (g)
Sugars (g)
Fibres (g)