Cooking With Chicago Chefs: Fabio Viviani's Lamb Amatriciana

In a new weekly segment, NBC Chicago teams up with Chicago chefs for a lesson in cooking. This week, chef Fabio Viviani from Siena Tavern shows us how to make his favorite recipe from their Chef's Week menu.

Lamb Amatriciana

Yield: 2 pounds, serves 4

1/4 pound pancetta, diced small
3/4 pound Spanish onion, diced medium
4 bay leaves
1.25 pound lamb shoulder, diced medium
3.5 cups white wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
5 cups pomodoro sauce
1/4 cup basil
1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese
1 pound rigatoni pasta

1. In a pan on medium heat, render the Pancetta. Add onions and cook to translucent about 12-15 minutes. Once onions are cooked down, add garlic, red chili flake, and bay leaf.
2. Add lamb shoulder and cook until browned, add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add wine, reduce by half then add pomodoro sauce.
4. Reduce by half again, add fresh basil.
5. Bring 5 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Once water is boiling, then add about 2 tbsp. Add Pasta Stir to keep the pasta from sticking. Stir within the first 2 minutes of cooking pasta. Follow the package directions for cook times. As a general guideline: perfectly cooked pasta that is "al dente," or firm to the bite, yet cooked through, requires you to test it yourself when the time is close. You may need to test the pasta 2 or 3 times before it’s just right.

Toss freshly cooked pasta with sauce and top with freshly grated pecorino cheese.

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