This is cookery lite for calories, for work, trouble, ingredients but not for taste because it is yummy. Yesterday we were three at lunch with two of us on low carbohydrate diet regimes. Alison was one of the guests and she took photos, so as soon as they are emailed to me I will post them. Warning, however, that this is not a beautiful dish, but then what is so beautiful about chicken in gravy?

While it takes 1 and 1/2 hours to cook, it takes moments to put together and tends itself. It could also be made ahead and reheated without suffering at all. It can be made out of the cheapest cut of meat because of the cooking style. Unfortunately, in my city they never sell any off-cuts of lamb nor even ground/minced lamb. That's the only reason I cut up a shoulder myself. Had I been able to buy cubes or pieces of lamb, I surely would have done so. The recipe I am giving you served three people very well. With it we had sauteed spinach with a salad of radicchio to follow. We drank the wine with which the dish was made. Simple, easy, something I could do while enjoying the company of my friends.

There are other tiellas and I'll be exploring them over time, because this was such a satisfactory result. It is in Pugliese and Sardegnan cookery where I have met them most.

Tiella of lamb

preheat the oven to 160°C or 325°F

serves 3

1-1/2 pounds (700 g) of lamb stew meat, which I obtained by boning a shoulder
1 large onion sliced thinly
1 large clove of garlic sliced
1 medium potato sliced thinly per person
about 1/2 bottle of white wine
1 teaspoon of seasoned salt such as Salarom, or salt plus some rosemary
black pepper

In a Pyrex or other covered casserole dish, lay one-half of the sliced onions, then one-half of the sliced garlic, then all the potato slices. Arrange the meat over this, then add the second half of the onions. Sprinkle the seasonings over these layers-- it can take quite a lot of pepper-- then pour enough of the wine over to cover the meat layer. Cover and cook in the oven 1-1/2 hour until the meat is tender. Serve hot.

There are lots of juices, so if you are not limiting carbs, serve some sturdy bread. I served them to the cats and they loved them.