I’m thinking of cooking something pretty special for my partner’s birthday and have been flipping through a few cookbooks for ideas. One idea that looks pretty interesting was *Involtini di Agnello * which is basically pieces of lamb pounded out till they’re thin and flat, smeared with pesto or tapenade or something similarly yummy, then rolled up like cigars and either sauteed or grilled.
I’ve been thinking of taking this idea one step further and taking the thin, flat pieces of lamb and folding them into little parcels instead of cigars. Would this even be possible? You’d essentially get a parcel of meat with a filling of some kind, sort of like a piece of ravioli, but how could I keep the parcel closed? And what are your suggestions for fillings?
The thing about making roulades, they can be pinned shut with a toothpick, pr packed together so they don’t unroll … I suppose you could try to make packettes and place them folded side down?
Unfortunately, meat doesn’t have the pliability and nature of dough. If you fold the meat over, the meat would probably contract and want to unfold when cooking. Even pegging it with toothpicks the meat would want to pull away and there would be a tear or seperation and the filling would just fall out. The meat in the crease of the foldover would also just break as it cooks and you’d have a sandwich, not a raviloli, and It probably wouldn’t look too good. You can’t really “glue” two pieces of meat together like ravioli dough… on the other hand, Cawl fat might work to wrap a small “meat package”, but I couldn’t guarantee the results. They make meat rolls for a reason, the natural tendency of meat is to contract in a straight line with the grain when cooked and hence into itself when rolled, holding itself together and the stuffings in.
Another alternative would be to use “thickish” medallions of tenderloin, put a small slit in the side and widen a pocket by slicing and pivoting down, then it’s a simple matter to fill the pocket with your tapenade and grill or sautee. But it certainly won’t have the texture and delicateness of a roulade.
After some contemplation… there might be another way. If you have access to a commercial slicer, you could make paper thin slices of frozen lamb tenderloin. Layer those lamb “ravioli” on top of equally thin prosciutto as a wrapper (in place of cawl fat) fill the center of the loin with a dollop of fresh or dried figs macerated in balsamic and a chunk of gorgonzola. Bunch it into a purse with your fingers and lower each tiny package slowly into 400F oil a little bit at a time (be Careful of your fingers), let it start to take on some crispy structure and eventually drop the whole thing in the oil after hold. Oil blanche and crisp the dumplings for a minute. Maybe finish in a sautee pan of Marsala Sauce for several minutes to glaze and braise. Serve them saucy.
Hmmm…sounds like meat Ravioli is out then, and the Involtini are in. Any suggestions for fillings? I was thinging something mushroomy, but perhaps a bit of pesto-like zing would be more in order. Something a little sharp or salty to cut across the richness of the meat?
Feta cheese goes well with lamb.
One of my favorites is roast shoulder of lamb stuffed with feta cheese wrapped in brine-pickled wine leafs and seasoned with plenty of rosmary and garlic
Recently, I bought what are essentially rubber bands made of silicone to hold food together in packets or bunches. They can be used to deep fat fry, bake or grill and are heat safe to some 600 degrees F or so. I think these would be great for making “packets” of stuffed meat.