Guest post - rustic Italian cooking

The world is a smaller and often better place for social media.

Here is a story of how we met one of our followers in real life, discovered they also know someone else we know, James at Cabrito Goat Meat and persuaded them to come up with a recipe which bound us all together…………….

A few years ago I was on a quest to buy Made in the UK or Made in Italy; not an easy task by any means, but while searching for UK manufactured products I came across a family run, independent business in rural Shropshire that made beautiful iron pans called Netherton Foundry. As a food blogger and keen home cook, I love discovering new kitchen utensils and ingredients so it was a perfect match for me: I ordered an oven safe fryingpan, intending to make a tarte tatin.

Fast forward a few years, and I still have to make that tarte; but since then, I have been following Netherton Foundry on their social channels, seeing how they have expanded their range and successfully obtained the trust of chef and industry experts.

After an initial occasional exchange of messages and 'likes' - we started 'chatting' about motherhood and kids, making the connection more personal than just about pans.

And on the final day of 2018, we realised (still via social media!) that we happened to be at the same time in the same place, coincidentally - the stunning Cotswolds village of Broadway. We quickly arranged to meet up for coffee in the local deli, which was such a great opportunity to put faces behind 'handles' and yet another proof, if I needed another one, that good friendships can come out of socials. I was delighted when they asked me to provide a regional Italian recipe for their website, making in one of their pans.

Kid goat ‘cacio e ova’

This recipe is found in a few variations all over Southern Italy, from the mountain areas of Abruzzo to the green sea facing hills of Cilento and the inner lands of Campania. It is a warming, satisfying, wholesome dish which uses kid goat, a type of meat commonly found in Italy. In the UK, Cabrito Goat Meat sells ethically reared goat meat; if you can’t easily buy, lamb would work well too.

Serves 4

1kg kid goat meat: a mix of cutlets (ideally) then ribs and diced

2 cloves of garlic

1 small red onion, sliced

¼ white onion, thinly sliced

1 twig of rosemary

good quality extra virgin olive oil

2 free range eggs

1 tin of garden peas, drained

1 tub of pancetta cubes

1/5 lt stock (we used organic vegetable)

Salt & pepper to taste

Half glass of dry white wine

50gr grated, good quality Parmigiano Reggiano / Grana Padano (or pecorino if you like something stronger)

the juice of ½ lemon

In a small pan, sauté the pancetta with a little olive oil and the finely sliced white onion. Once browned, add the drained peas and let them cook for about 20 minutes, adding water a little at a time to prevent them from drying out. Add a knob of butter towards the end for an extra layer of flavour.

Once ready, set aside. Add two generous table spoons of olive oil to your Prospectorpan, two cloves of garlic (peeled but whole) and the sliced onion, with a twig of fresh rosemary. 

Once golden, add the diced meat and the cutlets, letting them brown on a high heat. Add the wine and let it evaporate fully, then turn the heat to low, add a little of the previously prepared stock and partially covered with the lid to let the meat cook. Keep adding the stock little at the time to avoid the pan from drying out and the meat sticking to it. After about 30-45 minutes the meat should be tender (depending on the size of the pieces). Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Whisk the eggs with the grated cheese and set aside.  Remove the lid and add the peas, let the stew cook further adding some more stock if needed. Finally, just before serving, add the whisked egg mixture and mix well so that the egg will cook but not solidify like for an omelette; add the lemon juice too at this point.

Serve immediately with roast potatoes or mash and a slice of good sourdough bread to mop up the sauce.

Note: the sourdough was cooked in an oven safe frying pan; it works great with bread too! The recipe used is pain naturel by Weekend Bakery

Read more from Federica on her blog  http://www.pastabites.co.uk and follow her on Instagram @pastabites and on twitter @federilli

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk