Roast lamb with caponata

FOOD & WINE MATCH

Jump to recipe

Roast lamb with caponata

This recipe is from the February/March 2010 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE.

Wine to try
2007 Tar & Roses Sangiovese, Heathcote, A$25
Now we're into some gutsy food and an equally boldly flavoured wine. Like the gentle rosé with the soup, the full savoury richness of this red forms a perfect partnership with the lamb. Sangiovese has all the right characters to work with this dish: lamb is a sweet meat, working as a counterpoint to the savoury flavours of the red, while the lamb's slight fattiness is cleanly cut by the natural acidity of the grape variety. There is also a nice synergy between the sangiovese as an Italian grape variety and the caponata, which is a classic Sicilian dish.

Search for similar recipes...

Roast lamb with caponata

Serves 6

1 leg	(about 1.5kg) roast lamb, thinly sliced when cold (roasted for 2 hours at 200°C)
Caponata
1	large onion, chopped
4	celery stalks, including leaves, chopped
6 tbsp	extra virgin olive oil
1 kg	eggplant, cut into 3cm pieces
6	ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp	sugar
2 tbsp	tomato paste
2 tbsp	white wine vinegar
20	green olives, stones removed
1½ tbsp	salted capers, soaked in water and rinsed
1 tbsp	sultanas, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes then drained
To serve:	12 fresh basil leaves and 1 tbsp toasted pinenuts

To make the caponata, blanch the onion and celery in salted boiling water for a few minutes then drain in a colander. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add the eggplant and sauté for 10 minutes or until browned and tender. Add the onion, celery, tomato, sugar, tomato paste, vinegar and 1 cup cold water, stir well and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes until vegetables are cooked and sauce has thickened. Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper then add olives, capers and sultanas and cook for further 5-7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool before adding basil leaves and pine nuts. Serve with cold lamb slices and bread.