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Salsicce di Agnello alla Brace

Another dish often prepared for the panarda (page 50), the sausages are rubbed with olio santo, wrapped in Savoy cabbage leaves, and grilled over wood. Because lamb fat can give up an aggressive, even disagreeable, flavor, overpowering the savor of the lamb itself, pork fat is recommended to keep the sausages full of juices and to support their intricate spicing.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 6

Ingredients

12 leaves Savoy cabbage
1 tablespoon fine sea salt, plus additional as needed to cook cabbage
2 pounds lamb, cut from the leg, finely minced
10 ounces fresh pork fat, finely minced
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and finely minced
1 1-inch cinnamon stick, freshly grated
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, toasted
Generous grindings of pepper
1/4 cup good red wine
Olio santo (page 155)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Build a wood fire.

    Step 2

    Remove the hard cores from the Savoy cabbage. Blanch the leaves for 1 minute in boiling sea-salted water and drain.

    Step 3

    In a large bowl, combine all the elements save the olio santo and the cabbage leaves. Form 12 plump oval sausages from the paste, brushing each of them generously with olio santo. Wrap each sausage in a cabbage leaf, securing it with a toothpick.

    Step 4

    Place the wrapped sausages on an oiled grill over red/white embers and roast them for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Depending on your taste, you can either discard the leaves of cabbage or serve the sausages in their charred cabbage “casings,” drizzling them with more tears of olio santo. Either way, the sausages will be lush, succulent, wonderful with thick slices of wood-roasted potatoes, oven-toasted bread, and cold white wine.

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