Abbacchio con le patate

We won't eat your cats and dogs, but we might eat your lamb.

When Donald Trump made his blasphemous assertion while debating Kamala Harris that immigrants were eating people’s pets, Stefano hopped on social media to clarify that as an immigrant himself, he won’t eat your cats and dogs, but he might eat your lamb.

Specifically, he would happily devour your abbacchio, and I would join him. If we could actually find abbacchio, that is.

Abbacchio is not just any lamb. A distinctly Roman term, abbacchio refers to a suckling lamb that has been nourished with only its mother’s milk, different from agnello, an older lamb that has been weaned and eats grasses.

In Rome, abbacchio is traditionally eaten at Christmas, Easter, and on special occasions all year. It’s such a distinctly Roman dish that the City of Rome included a recipe on its official tourism website.

True to its tradition of not getting the English translation quite right, Rome’s tourism website refers to a suckling lamb as a lamb that is “breastfed,” which gave us both a chuckle.

Part of me wants to offer them my editing services, but part of me wants to leave it as is and appreciate the charm and humor of what’s lost in translation.

It was a beautiful fall day, so Stefano started a fire and we cooked our abbacchio con le patate outdoors in our wood-burning pizza oven.

Here, lamb is less common, and abbacchio, in particular, is hard to come by. We once asked a local farmer if he butchered suckling lambs, and he looked at us like we were crazy. We make do with lamb chops sourced from New Zealand, which we usually pick up at our local restaurant supply store.

Roasted potatoes are a must with abbacchio, thus abbacchio con le patate. Seasonings are simple: garlic, rosemary, salt, and a bit of red pepper flakes. Marinate the meat while peeling and slicing the potatoes, then cook it all together in the oven. Your kitchen will smell delicious.

Ingredients

3-4 servings

• 2 racks of lamb

• 4 medium russet potatoes

• White wine vinegar

• 4 cloves of garlic

• Salt

• Fresh rosemary

• Red pepper flakes

• Olive oil

Instructions

Prepare the lamb chops

1. Clean two cloves of garlic and cut them into pieces. Set aside.

2. Clean a few springs of fresh rosemary and pull the needles from the stem. Set aside.

3. Cut the excess fat from the rack of lamb and cut it into individual chops, slicing the mean between the bones.

4. Place the lamb chops into a bowl with the garlic and rosemary. Add salt, red pepper flakes, and a dash of white wine vinegar. Stir and let the lamb chops marinate.

Prepare the potatoes

1. Wash and peel the potatoes.

2. Cut the potatoes into equal-sized pieces and place them into a bowl.

3. Clean and dice the remaining two cloves of garlic.

4. Add the garlic to the potatoes, along with more rosemary needles, salt, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, and a dash of olive oil. Stir together.

Bake the lamb and potatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.

2. Place the lamb and potatoes into a baking tray big enough not to be crowded.

3. Drizzle more olive oil over the lamb and potatoes and stir.

4. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are golden brown and the meat is cooked to your preference.

Note:

In the US and perhaps other countries, lamb is often cooked medium-rare. In Italy, that’s never the case; abbacchio and agnello are always well-cooked.