This is classic Maltese peasant food: hot and filling. A great winter warmer.
Ingredients:
- Plain flour (around 1/4 cup, as needed)
- 6–8 lamb forequarter chops (pork chops can also be used, but trim some of the fat)
- Plenty of cracked black pepper
- Salt to taste
- 4–6 medium/large potatoes (use as many as needed), peeled and sliced about 1/4? thick
- 1–2 medium onions, sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, either crushed or thinly sliced
- 1 can tomatoes
- (Optional: dash of red wine)
- 1/4 –1/2 tsp dried basil (or a good squeeze of basil paste)
- 1/4 –1/2 tsp dried oregano
- Water as needed
Method:
Place a layer of chops on the bottom of a large baking dish and sprinkle liberally with flour. Season with however much pepper and salt as you like. Scatter with onion slices and garlic (if sliced). Cover it all with a layer of sliced potatoes.
Repeat as necessary, depending on how many chops and how big your baking dish is.
Once you’ve finished layering the potatoes, prepare the tomato sauce.
Whiz the tomatoes with the herbs, and wine and garlic (if you’re using crushed instead of sliced) and any remaining pepper.
Pour the tomato sauce over the chops and potatoes. Make sure the top layer of potatoes are sitting in the liquid. Add water as necessary to bring the level up.
Bake at 180°C for an hour. Check occasionally to make sure the liquid isn’t drying out, and spoon some over the top layers. Test the potatoes with a fork to make sure they’re cooked.
Serve with the rich sauce (if it hasn’t thickened much, you can always drain it off and mix with extra flour to make a good, thick sauce). Serve with green veges.
For a vegetarian option, you can omit the chops and layer the potatoes with sliced pumpkin, parsnip or carrots.
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