STUFFED PASTA RECIPES WITH MEAT RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Gennaro makes a mean stuffed porchetta. It looks and tastes beautiful, but don’t be intimidated because it’s really not hard to do at all. Get your butcher to butterfly the meat for you then make this beautiful stuffing and roll it up inside the meat before you roast it. You’ll want to have a piece of string about an arm’s length handy to tie your meat up once you’ve rolled it.
  2. Preheat your oven to full whack. Lay the boned shoulder of pork on a board, skin-side down, and season well with a few really good sprinkles of salt and pepper. Massage this seasoning all over the meat.
  3. Put a large pan on a medium heat and fry your diced onion in a lug of olive oil for about 10 minutes and when it’s softened but not coloured, turn the heat down to low and add the chopped chicken livers and pork mince. Use a wooden spoon to break the mince up a bit and mix everything together. Add the pine nuts, raisins, chopped sage and parsley, then season with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Pour in a splash of red or mulled wine, give everything a good stir then take your pan off the heat. You don’t want to cook the meat now, you just want to get a good mix of flavours going so you have a delicious stuffing.
  4. Put the stuffing in a bowl and put it to one side to cool down. Once your stuffing has completely cooled, spoon all of it down the middle of the opened shoulder. Roll the meat up quite tightly then tie it up as tightly as you can with 4 or 5 pieces of string. Drizzle all over with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and rub the seasoning all over the skin to help it turn into delicious crackling. Lay your carrots across the middle of the roasting tray and put the meat on top. Pour your glass of red or mulled wine and a glass of water in the bottom of the tray then put your meat in the oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for about 3 ½ to 4 hours until lovely and golden. Once it’s out of the oven carefully remove the skin and put it to one side. Slice the pork then serve it with some tasty bits of broken up crackling, lovely potatoes and a few greens or a nice salad. Absolutely gorgeous.

Steps:

• 1. Stuffing a leg of lamb is a great way to transform a regular cut into something a bit special for Easter, and this recipe ensures it’ll be bursting with flavour. If you’ve never made homemade gravy before, give it a go – you can’t beat it!
  2. Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Turn the leg of lamb upside down on a chopping board and very gently cut halfway down into the leg along the bone so the meat opens out, creating a pocket.
  3. Make your stuffing by peeling a couple of garlic cloves and popping them into a food processor. As it’s whizzing away, add the parsley and rosemary leaves, then the anchovies. Scrape this mixture into a bowl, then add the ciabatta and pine nuts to the processor. You want it to be quite coarse so just pulse it a few times, then tip it into your bowl of herbs along with the chopped olives and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, then get your clean hands in the bowl and scrunch everything together. If it looks too dry, add a little lemon juice.
  4. Pack this stuffing into the pocket of the lamb, then wrap the meat back over and tie it tightly with string, pushing the remaining rosemary sprigs underneath the string. Drizzle over a little olive oil, pat this into the lamb and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Place your roughly chopped onion, carrot and celery in a roasting tray with any remaining unpeeled garlic cloves and lay your lamb on top. Roast for about an hour and a half. In Italy, they’ll start basting the lamb after 30 minutes by pouring a swig of wine over the meat and veg every 15 minutes or so until the meat is cooked. Trust me – it is well worth doing and makes it juicy and delicious! When cooked, transfer the lamb to a board or platter to rest while you make your gravy.
  6. Spoon off most of the fat from your tray, then put it on the hob over a low heat. Add the flour and mash everything together with a potato masher. Add a glass of red wine and bring to the boil, to cook off the alcohol. Pour in the stock and bring back to the boil, scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you go. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
  7. Sieve your gravy into a jug or pan, using a ladle to really push all the goodness through. Discard any veg or meat left behind. At this point, your lamb will have been resting for around 15 minutes and will be perfect for serving. Dish it up and tuck in!