Skip's Food Blog: Agnello a Scottidito

can't talk about Agnello a Scottaditto, lamb chops that will burn your fingers, without talking about my friend Frankie at Universal Food Store of Noank. He has the best meat suppliers in Connecticut. Of course, after he let it slip that he gets his sausages from Sam and Frank Bruno at Westerly Meat Packing Company, and when he realized how excited I became having that information, he's played things closer to the vest. But Frankie knows where to find great meat.

I've already mentioned that a walk into Universal Food Store of Noank is a walk back in time. You'll find no shrink wrap or styrofoam behind the meat counter here. But Frankie has surrounded himself with a group of fellows—some of whom are his children—who really seem to care about what they're doing for a living.

And that bode well on a day when we were in the midst of una tempesta (although the WASPS around here would more likely have called it a nor'easter), and comfort food seemed the order of the day.

Somehow, this second-generation Italian-American finds comfort in foods that—on the surface—wouldn't be available in circumstances like a nor'easter. Something, for example, from the grill. And that's where my stovetop gratella came in.

A couple of Frankie's loin lamb chops and my gratella could take the chill away from any winter evening, and make the rattling of the living room windows seem like an interlude from an opera by Puccini.

The first time I had Agnello a Scottaditto was at a little spot called Le Tre Fratelli, near the Pantheon, in Rome. This in contrast to a small error in translation at another restaurant—Sorra Lella, smack in the middle of the Tiber River where I didn't exactly understand the meaning of one of the nightly specials—cervello di agnello. And while lamb's brains might not have been as bad as you might have thought, I'd go for the Agnello a Scottaditto anytime.

Agnello a Scottaditto
Grilled, marinated Lamb Chops

Ingredients

1.5 Lb. Loin lamb chops (Four chops)
Olive oil
2 Tbs. Rosemary, leaves only
1 1/2 Lemons
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Marinate the lamb chops at room temperature in the olive oil, rosemary, and half the juice of a lemon for approximately two hours.

Heat your stovetop gratella for five or ten minutes over high heat, then season the lamb chops on both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cook the chops for approximately four minutes per side. Allow to rest for approximately five minutes, covered loosley with aluminum foil.

To Serve:

Squeeze the juice of the remaining lemon over the lamb chops. Despite the fact that Agnello a Scottadito is typical of Roman cooking, Tuscan potatoes would be a great accompaniment, along with spinaci saltati, sauteed spinach.

Serves four.