After the wild sugar excesses of the last week, we all needed something savoury as an antidote…

Despite being only 100km from Rome, Abruzzo is one of Italy’s little known regions.  A hidden gem, if you like.   It is sparsely populated and rarely visited by tourists but boasts stunning mountain and sea views with a correspondingly rich repertoire of robust mountain dishes and an abundance of seafood specialities.

In Abruzzo sheep and goats are farmed up on the mountains, grazing on Alpine meadows during the summer and driven down to the lowlands to over-winter.  As other regions of Italy revere the pig, so do the Abruzzese treat their sheep.

This lamb sauce or ragu is in the tradition of Abruzzo but with one notable exception: I completely forgot to add some crushed dried chilli which turns up in almost all savoury dishes in the region.

The traditional pasta shape would be maccheroni alla chitarra or guitar pasta.  (Thin sheets of pasta are rolled over a box strung with thin wire to create square-cut spaghetti.)  I used fusilli lunghi pasta which looks like a very long piece of coiled telephone cord (from when phones still had cords!) or like a terrible late-eighties spiral perm.  I picked it up as it looked fun and because, like bucatini, it was hollow inside meaning that it would soak up loads of flavour from the ragu.  (The pasta shape is from Campania, but I figured that the Abbruzese wouldn’t be too upset as it tasted delicious!)

This is a rich, mellow sauce with beautifully tender lamb.  I liked the texture of the chopped as opposed to minced meat—it made the sauce more robust.  This is a very simple, delicious and cheap pasta dish—useful with a recession looming—that I’ll be certain to repeat throughout the winter.

Ragu d’agnello alla Abruzzese

This is my interpretation of a classic dish from Abruzzese or Abruzzo in Italy.

Serves 3

• 340g lean lamb (I used a pack of casserole meat) chopped into small pieces but not minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 1 small carrot, chopped finely
• 1 small stick of celery, about the same size as the carrot, chopped finely
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 20g pancetta, chopped into fine dice
• 2 large twigs of rosemary, needles stripped and chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 125ml red wine
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 500ml stock (lamb would be ideal, but you can get away with chicken)
• pinch of sugar
• salt and pepper
• 300g pasta
• grated Pecorino to serve

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over a low flame.  Fry the onion, celery and carrot together for about six minutes until the onion is pale gold and the other vegetables are softening.  Half-way through, add the garlic and pancetta and keep frying.  Turn up the heat and add the chopped lamb.  Brown it off for a few minutes then add in the red wine.  Allow to bubble until the wine has almost evaporated completely.

Add the rosemary, tomatoes, stock, sugar and a little seasoning.  Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to low and simmer, covered, for about one hour.  Check that the meat is tender then take the lid off the pan and allow the sauce to reduce a little so that it will coat the pasta nicely.

Cook your pasta as directed on the package.  Drain well and stir into the sauce, turning well so that it coats every strand well.  Divide between dishes and sprinkle with Pecorino.