»Best of« Val Senales mountain lamb

Ingredients:

• 2 crowns of lamb (saddle with bones) from local lamb (á 250 g)
• 5 knuckles of lamb (á 150 g – only the lower part)
• Vegetable oil (to brown)
• 8 cl sherry
• 250 g mirepoix (bouquet garni: carrots, celery, onion, parsnip)
• 2 tbsp. tomato puree (double concentrated)
• 500 ml lamb gravy (or veal gravy)
• 2 tbsp. butter
• Rosemary sprigs, thyme sprigs, cloves of garlic
• Sea salt
• Black pepper from the pepper mill
• 200 g white polenta (Bramata)
• 400 g milk
• 400 g vegetable stock
• Nutmeg (freshly ground!)
• Fresh wild garlic
• 8 large artichokes
• 150 g sundried tomatoes

Preparation:

Sear the knuckles of lamb on all sides in vegetable oil, remove from the pot and roast the bouquet garni on a lower heat until golden brown. Add tomato puree and continue roasting a bit longer. Deglaze with sherry, top up with the lamb gravy (or veal gravy if necessary), place the knuckles in the pot again, add a sprig of thyme and one sprig of rosemary and two cloves of garlic, place a lid on the pot and let it all stew (depending on the meat around 1.5 to 3 hours). Remove the knuckles from the pot as soon as they are tender and put them aside and keep them warm. Pass the sauce through a strainer and season a bit more if necessary and reduce to the desired consistency. For the wild garlic polenta, rinse the wild garlic and dab dry. Blend with the vegetable stock until it is a smooth paste and pass through a fine sieve. Bring milk and vegetable stock (should be 800 ml altogether!) to boil and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir in the white polenta and simmer at the lowest temperature for about 15 minutes until the polenta is soft. Add wild garlic paste until the polenta gets a nice green colour and has a great wild garlic flavour. Pour into suitable dishes and refrigerate. Once the polenta is set, cut into approx. 1.5 cm thick slices. To serve, fry the polenta slices on both sides until crisp and slightly browned. Clean the artichokes (remove stem, outer leaves and the strawy heart, leaving only the clean, tender artichoke bottoms). Season them with salt and fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme) as well as a clove of garlic and wrap in kitchen foil. Cook in the oven at 150 °C until al dente, leave to slightly cool and then chop them roughly. Cut the sundried tomatoes and a few wild garlic leaves into fine strips and add to the artichoke tartar. Season a bit more if necessary. Rub the crowns of lamb with salt, pepper, garlic and freshly chopped Mediterranean herbs and leave to marinate for several hours. Sear all sides and cook in the oven at 120°C until pink. Leave to rest at 70°C for around 29 minutes thus the meat relaxes and the meat juice can distribute.

Presentation:

Bring the artichoke-tomato-tartar mixture in shape on large, flat plates by using a circular cutter, place a small, glazed knuckle of lamb on each and place the wild garlic polenta around it. Carve the crowns of lamb into 2 cm thick slices and place next to the tartar with the knuckles of lamb. Finish with the lamb gravy and decorate with fresh herbs.