Potacchio Marchigiana is a rustic pot roast from Italy’s Le Marche region. It’s a very old recipe with very few ingredients. And typical of the peasant dishes eaten in this little known region.
If you do you happen to come across this recipe in Le Marche, it is likely you will see it cooked with chicken. The people of Le Marche cook this with many different meats. My favourite is lamb as it adds that rich but mild lamb flavour. And very soft meat. However any meat will work well.
The great flavour comes from frying garlic, rosemary, parsley and white wine in extra virgin olive oil. And of course the lamb. And it is the perfect example of the cuisine of Le Marche which always manages to create complex flavours from meagre ingredients. Most importantly, Potacchio Marchigiana is very easy to make.
Potacchio is the local term for a pot roast. Meat and a vegetable base cooked in a pot with a liquid. It’s a perfect one pot dish for a family get together. And you can eat it many different ways. For instance, eat it on its own, or perhaps with some creamy buttery mashed potato.
How to Cook Potacchio Marchigiana
Firstly cut the lamb into 2cm dice and brown in some olive oil and remove from the pan. Fry garlic and herbs in some extra virgin olive oil so that their aromas release. And then return the lamb to the pan, along with a glass of white wine, tomatoes and chicken stock, and slow cook in the oven on a low heat. As a result, you will then have a beautifully soft lamb stew in a wonderfully red sauce with some fantastically rustic Italian flavours.
Buon appetito! 🇮🇹
More Marche Recipes
- Vincisgrassi – Marche’s answer to lasagne – wide pasta sheets layered with meat ragu, chicken livers and bechamel.
- Salsa alla Marchigiana – the distinctive tomato and vegetable sauce of Marche, slow-cooked and intensely flavoured.
- Trippa all’Anconetana – tripe cooked in the style of Ancona, with tomatoes, cloves and marjoram.
Potacchio Marchigiano with Lamb
Equipment
- Chef Knife
- Chopping Board
- Cast Iron Pan
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil
- 750 g leg of lamb (cut into 1.5cm dice)
- 2 large cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp rosemary (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 125 ml white wine
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 200 ml passata
- 300 ml chicken stock (2)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350°C
- Cut 750g lamb leg into 2cm dice.
- Heat 2 tbsp of extra virign olive oil in a cast iron (or ovenproof) pan and brown meat on all sides. Remove the meat from the pan.
- Add the garlic and herbs to the pan (add more extra virgin olive oil if needed) and sauté for 1-2 minutes until they release their aromas.
- Raise the heat to medium and return the lamb to the pan and add the tomato paste, mixing well.
- Add the white wine and cook until the wine has evaporated.
- Add 3/4 cup of tomato sauce and a good pinch of salt and stir well, then add the stock.
- Cover the pan and slow cook in the pre-heated oven until the meat is tender, about 1.5 hours
