Chefs’ holiday recipes: Pepe Kehm’s Crown Roast of Veal With Potatoes and Calabrian Peppers

Pepe Kehm’s

Crown Roast of Veal With Potatoes and Calabrian Peppers

SERVES 8–10

Kehm, owner of Peno, describes the southwest Italian region of Calabria as “a melting pot of flavors and products.” “My cousin has a potato farm and grows a specific potato known in Calabria only,” he says. “We also love good beef, and in the Sila mountain range, some of the best veal is raised. Growing up, my father would always do crown roast, and my mother would make some of the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten. I put their two gems together: veal crown roast with potatoes and Calabrian peppers.” ’Nduja is a spicy Italian salami. Find it locally at Salume Beddu.

1 head of garlic

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

2 six-bone veal racks—tied by butcher and bones covered with aluminum foil

¼ cup paprika

¼ cup rendered ’nduja

2 lb. baby white potatoes

3 bunches of green onions, sliced vertically

3 lb. small winter squash, sliced

¼ cup chopped garlic

½ cup pecorino and Parmesan cheeses

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup Calabrian peppers

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Peel most of the skin off the garlic, leaving the head intact. Trim the top off the head to expose the cloves. Drizzle the head with olive oil, wrap with aluminum foil, and roast for 40 minutes or until the center clove is soft when pierced with a paring knife. Peel the cloves and purée. Leave the oven at 350° F.

2. Set a rack in a large flameproof roasting pan. Arrange the veal racks on the rack with the bones pointing upward.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the paprika, ¼ cup of the roasted garlic, the ¼ cup of olive oil, and ’nduja. Rub the roasts with the paste. Roast for about 2 hours until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 160° F. Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 300° F.

4. In a large roasting pan, toss the potatoes with the green onions, squash, garlic, and cheeses. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 1 hour.

5. Stuff the tops of the roasts with the potatoes and green onions and garnish with the peppers. Transfer the roasts to a platter and serve with the squash.

WINE PAIRING

2018 Paltrinieri “Radice” Lambrusco di Sorbara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, $20

This is not the sweet red you’re imagining. The dry, rosé-style Lambrusco is like the frizzante love child of wine and Champagne, bringing together rustic notes and bright freshness with pops of red fruit to keep up with both the veal and the peppers. —Angela Ortmann, STLWine Girl