Ragù di capretto (kid) used as a dressing for pasta is a showstopper exquisite tasting dish!
INGREDIENTS and PROCESS
Sometimes, it is easier to tell a story and describe a recipe by photos.
Goat or kid is a popular ingredient in Spring.
The mint on my balcony is thriving, celeriac is in season, the last of the red tomatoes are also in season and there is a glut of carrots in Victoria at the moment. All of these ingredients, are cooked on low heat for a long time and it makes a delicious ragù as a pasta sauce. On this occasion and a good quality Pecorino cheese is essential.
CAprettoKid – lean and pale meat
Kid cut into cubes – you can tell that it is not an old goat by the pale colour of the meat. It is trimmed of fat.
SOFFRITTO
The usual onion , part of the soffritto in most Italian soups and braises.
Celeriac
Add a chopped carrot and instead of celery I used some celeriac, some of the bulb and some of the inner leaves of the celeriac.
Browning the meat (KID/Capretto ) and soffritto has been set aside
Remove the soffritto, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and brown the meat.
Rosemary, sage, bay, cloves
Add the herbs and spices. Recognise them? Salt and pepper too.
A couple of red tomatoes.
KID/Capretto ready to be braised
Top with liquid. I added a mixture of chicken stock (always in my freezer) and some Marsala, to keep it in the Sicilian way of things. On another occasion I may add white wine or dry vermouth.
Cover the pan and braise slowly.
Cooked capretto
It does not look as good as it tasted…the perfume was fabulous too.
Casarecce and ragout/ ragù
Serve with fresh mint leaves and grated Pecorino.
Pecorino grating cheese
N.B. Real Pecorino is made from pecora (sheep)..i.e. sheep’s milk. I used a Pecorino Romano. See how white it is in colour?
Red wine and beef seem to be very compatible, and not just for drinking. Beef cheeks are the facial cheek muscle of a cow. They may look ugly but the meat is lean and tender once it is slow cooked in liquid, and in this case wine and marsala.
Some cooks marinade cheeks in red wine overnight; this will intensify the dark colour and the wine flavour of the final dish. In this recipe wine is added as part of the cooking liquid; the rich taste will still come through so I do not think that the marinade is necessary.
Most Italian recipes suggest using a strong red wine, some also add Marsala (dry). The French do the same and if you have Movida Rustica (Spanish cuisine) by Frank Camorra (the cook) and Richard Cornish (the writer) you will notice that Frank adds Pedro Ximenez sherry to his recipe.
Whether cooked in Italy, France, or Spain the choice of herbs used are the same: bay leaves, rosemary, thyme or sage. Onions, carrots and celery seem to be the common ingredients for what the Italians call the odori (smells), these are the basic vegetables which add ‘smell’ and taste to basic broths and stews.I also added thinly cut orange peel to mine; I do this often with braises.
This dish is so easy. I went out while it was cooking. When I returned I braised some fennel and boiled some potatoes. Polenta and mashed potatoes take a bit more time to cook, but soak up the juices even better.
There were 4 of us.
INGREDIENTS
2-3 beef cheeks
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, sliced roughly
2 stalks of celery, sliced
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dry marsala
1 cup red wine,
2 cloves of garlic (optional)
orange or tangello peel from one citrus, thinly cut, no pith
several fresh bay leaves, sage or thyme
salt and freshly ground pepper
PREPARATION
Remove any offending sinew and silver skin from the cheeks and cut into quarters.
Brown the cheeks in hot olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Remove from the pan and sauté the onion, carrot, celery and garlic.
Add the beef cheeks, wine, marsala, herbs, orange peel, seasoning and 1 cup of water.
Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook at least for 3 hours – Cook longer if you wish – the cheeks should be very tender and falling apart.
If you would like a reduced, thicker sauce, remove the cheeks and reduce the sauce to desired consistency.Return the cheeks to the braise.
Some cooks remove the vegetables because they have served their purpose, but we ate ours. Waste not, want not.
I do not know the equivalent Italian saying – that’s because they usually eat everything…and I mean this as a compliment.
Spring in Sicily is a celebration of renewal. In cultural and religious terms it is expressed through Easter, when Primavera (spring) and Pasqua (Easter) become almost synonymous—a joyful coming together of nature, family, tradition and food.
In Australia, spring arrives just as Sicily is entering autumn. Yet goat is available here throughout much of the year, allowing me to cook dishes that Sicilians would traditionally prepare only in springtime.
When I was a child living in Trieste, Easter in Sicily was more important that Christmas and although my family always spent time in Sicily in Summer, we would always try to visit Sicilian relatives
Across Sicily, Easter Sunday lunch often centres on young lamb or kid (capretto). Every family has its favourite preparation—roasted, braised or baked—and, as is so often the case in Italy, the “best” version is usually the one your mother cooked.
Ragusa
Easter Traditions from Ragusa
My father’s family comes from Ragusa in south-eastern Sicily, where Easter would not feel complete without ’mpanata ri agnieddu—a large, focaccia-like pie filled with very young lamb, bones included, and enclosed in bread dough. It is a dish that has been handed down through generations. My grandmother made it every Easter, and no doubt her mother before her.
The recipe I am sharing here comes from another part of Sicily altogether—the province of Trapani in the island’s north-west, encompassing Marsala and Mazara del Vallo.
In Australia the meat I buy is likely be considered as goat in Italy.
In Italy, this would be considered a goat, rather than a kid
A Well-Loved Sicilian Recipe
This version of Capretto con le Mandorle (Kid with Almonds) is adapted from La Cucina Tradizionale Siciliana by Anna Pomar, first published in 1984.
The book has special meaning for me. It was a gift from my cousin Rosetta during one of my many visits to Ragusa. It was her own well-used copy, filled with handwritten notes and alterations in the margins—much like the treasured cookbooks I inherited from my mother. Those annotations remind me that recipes are living things, evolving as they pass from one kitchen to another.
Kid for sale in Sicilian Market. notice that it is sold with the head intact
I love the texture that the almonds provide in the thickening of this dish.
Making the Recipe My Own
The original recipe uses kid, but the meat available to me in Australia is usually sold as goat. In Italy, it would probably be considered a more mature animal and therefore benefits from a much longer cooking time.
As with many traditional recipes, I have adapted it to suit my own taste. I use extra onions, bay leaves, homemade stock instead of water, and dry Marsala rather than simply relying on the tomatoes for flavour.
Does that make it a different recipe? I don’t think so. It simply reflects what generations of home cooks have always done—respect tradition while quietly making it their own.
One element I would never change is the almonds. Ground almonds enrich the sauce, giving it a beautiful silky texture and a delicate sweetness that balances the richness of the meat. It is this combination that makes the dish unmistakably Sicilian.
Ingredients
3 kg kid or goat, cut into serving pieces with some bone attached
2 onions, finely sliced
3–4 bay leaves
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup dry Marsala (Marsala Fine) or dry white wine
3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or equivalent canned tomatoes)
300 g blanched almonds, finely ground
About 3 cups good stock or broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Trim any excess fat from the meat and pat it dry.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based casserole. Add the meat and onions, browning them lightly.
Pour in the Marsala and allow it to reduce slightly, scraping up any caramelised bits from the base of the pan.
Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, stock, salt and pepper.
Cover and cook gently until the meat is very tender. Anna Pomar suggests about 45 minutes for young kid, but Australian goat usually requires 1½–2 hours, or until the meat comes away easily from the bone. *If you are cooking goat, cook it for longer.
Stir in the ground almonds and cook gently for another few minutes until the sauce thickens. If it becomes too thick, loosen it with a little extra stock.
Serve hot, although many Sicilians would happily enjoy this dish only slightly warm—a reminder that in Sicily good food is savoured rather than rushed.
Market in Sicily, kid hanging up, ready to be chopped into suitable pieces by the butcher
