Lamb chops with Norcia truffle

with sautéed spinach, glazed chestnut and pomegranate sauce 

CHEF MATTEO GIUDICI

Ingredients for 4 people:  

8 lamb chops, 600g fresh spinach, 1 small Norcia black truffle, 50g butter, 8 peeled and boiled chestnuts, 2 teaspoons chestnut honey, 2 pomegranates, 2g agar, 1 Sulmona garlic clove, extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper and salt as needed.

Directions:  

For the truffle butter: delicately melt the butter with some truffle trimmings making sure not to let it sizzle. Filter the butter into a bowl and then place it in ice water, whipping the butter with a whisk until it becomes solid.

Squeeze the juice from the pomegranates, filter it into a small pan, add the agar and simmer for a couple of minutes. Filter again and let cool in the refrigerator. Once it has solidified whip it into a nice creamy sauce.

Warm the honey in a small pan with two tablespoons of water and then add the chestnuts and boil until the liquid becomes dense and the chestnuts are glazed.

Clean the spinach and quickly sauté in a pan with two tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and the unpeeled and crushed garlic clove. Salt to taste.

Trim the lamb chops and clean the bones. Rub the meat with salt, fresh-ground black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil. Braze the chops in a hot pan, preferably aluminum, then lower the heat. Add the truffle butter and continue to cook for 6-7 minutes basting it frequently with the juice. The meat must remain soft and pink on the inside. Turn off the heat and sprinkle black truffle shavings on top.

Serve the lamb chops on a bed of spinach and with the glazed chestnuts on the side. Decorate with the pomegranate sauce and steamed carrots.

Wine to pair:
 

Rosso di Montalcino Doc 2012 Poggio di Sotto 

A "little Brunello" as tasty as some "real" ones. Deep ruby-garnet. Very complex, classic nose of herbs, sour cherries and floral notes. Flavorful on the palate, with tannins well integrated with the muscular yet elegant fruit. Outstanding finish, worthy of a superior denomination. Excellent.

Production area: close to Castelnuovo dell’Abate, in the river Orcia valley, from vineyards at 200, 300 and 450 meters of altitude and of varying expositions, where the soil is poor and rocky, mainly composed of marl.

Grape variety: Sangiovese 100%

Production system: harvest is manual, in cases containing 15-20 kg, in the middle-end of September. Yield per hectare is 3-3,5 tons. Vinification is in oak vats, spontaneous fermentations by indigenous yeasts and long macerations, with several pumping-over during the day. The wine ages 24 months in 30 hl oak casks and 6 months in bottle. There is no filtering before bottling.

Alcoholic content: 13,5%

Serving temperature: 16-18°C