Stuffed back of goat
INGREDIENTS:
(for 6 servings)
For the goat:
½ of a goat’s back (about 3kg)
Caul fat to cover goat's back
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp paste of sun-dried tomato
2 small tomatoes cut into 4
2 spring onions
2 large vine leaves and vine shoots
Salt
Pepper
For the stuffing:
⅓ cup olive oil
2 onions, finely-chopped
6 spring onions, finely-chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely-chopped
½ pluck, kidneys and sweetbreads, scalded and finely-chopped
500g intestines, scalded and finely-chopped
Peel of ½ lemon
400g Carolina rice
1 cup sweet muscat wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
Salt
Pepper
1 small bunch parsley, finely-chopped
½ bunch fennel, finely-chopped
¼ bunch spearmint, finely-chopped
½ tsp allspice, ground
½ cinnamon stick
6 grains allspice
2 bay leaves
1 pack-needle
Fireproof thread or 3-4 toothpicks
INSTRUCTIONS:
For the goat:
Using a sharp knife, carve from underneath and behind the arm.
Slowly insert your hands so as to separate all of the skin from the bones and to create space. Using half of a lemon as a cup, coat the entire surface of the meat with lemon juice.
For the stuffing:
Put the onions, garlic, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, ground allspice, allspice seeds, lemon peel, a bit of salt and 1 cup of water all together in a pot, and allow to steam for a few minutes, until the liquids evaporate.
Pour in the olive oil and sauté for 5 minutes, until the onions wither and turn brown.
Add the pluck, kidneys and sweetbreads, and the intestines, and continue to sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
Add the rice and sauté for a bit until it becomes shiny, and extinguish using the wine – which is left for 5 minutes to evaporate.
Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup of water.
Stir and bring to a boil, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid.
Remove the stuffing from the burner, add the spices, stir and set aside until it cools down.
Remove the peel and the spices.
Final steps:
Sprinkle salt all over the goat, both inside and out.
Place the back upright with the opening on top, and stuff using a spoon.
Sew up the opening and lay the meat in a pan.
Massage the back lightly, so as to spread the filling evenly inside.
Sprinkle the back with salt and pepper on all sides, and then put it back in its original position.
Mix the tomato paste with salt, pepper, olive oil and a little water, then coat the goat with this and cover the meat with the caul fat.
Put the vine shoots and 2 spring onions in a pan, followed by the goat, then place 4 cloves of garlic all around it, along with the lemon peel, and 2 small tomatoes cut in 4. Put 2 large vine leaves on top of the caul fat, and pour 1 litre of water over it. Cover with baking paper and aluminium foil.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees Celsius for 1 hour, and then at 180 degrees Celsius for another 2 hours.
Check periodically to see if water must be added.
Remove the foil as soon as the meat begins to soften, and let the goat back cook uncovered, so as to become crispy.
Notes:
Serve with baked potatoes and a lettuce salad.
The potatoes can be added when the dish goes into the oven, so as to cook along with the meat. Alternatively, after the back has finished cooking, it can be removed from the pan, replaced by orzo or spaghetti – along with as much water as necessary – and continue cooking until the pasta boils.
The caul fat lends extra flavour to the dish, and a gives the goat meat a crunchy texture.