Italian week of wonder (Day #1)

As the designated cook of the family I always want to find recipes that are healthy but taste good too. It can be a challenge to make something new because there is a strong possibility that it will come out bad. Lately I've been looking up new recipes since I've been bored with my easy go-to dinners. So while I was in the checkout line at Whole Foods I saw the Epicurious magazine Italy edition staring back at me.

I quickly flipped though the magazine, looking at all the pictures (cause that's really how I pick out recipes) and initially thought these were too challenging and time consuming to make. I LOVE Italian food and after having traveled to Italy I loved the real stuff even more.  Why not give it a try? Can't hurt to at least buy the magazine! So I bought it and what came next was nothing short of sheer wonder.

I just finished what I am now calling my Italian week of wonder. I would like to share with you all the great recipes that I made and give you the REAL scoop on how easy it was to make. All of these recipes are great for runners too and you can make variations or substitutions for things if you like. So here goes day one of the Italian week of wonder.

First up is:

LAMB CHOPS SCOTTADITO

*Note: This is a picture from the magazine. I forgot to take a picture of the lamb I made that night.

Here's the recipe:

3 racks of lamb, each rack about 1 1/2 lb. (cut into chops)
2/3 cup of lard (I didn't use lard I used butter Earth Balance vegan butter to be exact)
Sea salt 
Pepper
1 lemon, halved

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees and put a heatproof platter inside.
• Gently pound each chop between 2 sheets of parchment paper until 1/4" thick.
• Melt lard with oil in a small saucepan over low heat until translucent but not hot (or just melt some butter). Remove from heat and dip each chop in lard (or butter) to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let sit.
• Heat a 12" heavy skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Season chops with salt and pepper then brown in batches of 4 turning over once, about 4 minutes total per batch for medium-rare. Transfer chops to as cooked to heated platter.
• Squeeze lemon halves over hot chops and serve immediately.

I made this with brown rice and asparagus and it was delicious! I've never made lamb before so I was scared to say the least but this recipe was so simple that there was no way that I could screw it up. All in all this recipe took no more than 10-20  minutes including the prep time. Try it out and let me know what you think!