Moist Roasted Baby Goat (Capretto) with Peas, Fingerling Potatoes and Shallots

As our Featured Chef of July 2009, Scott Conant of Scarpetta in New York City shares his Moist Roasted Capretto (baby goat) recipe. For more information on Scarpetta or recipes by Scott Conant, click here.

Serves: 4 to 6

For the goat:

1 baby goat (also called kid, capretto and chevron) leg and shoulder, about 5 pounds

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

6 to 8 whole garlic cloves

Pinch of crushed red pepper

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, such as canola, corn or gapeseed oil

6 to 8 cups chicken broth

For the vegetables:

2 to 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil, such as canola, corn or grapeseed oil

5 medium, fingerling potatoes, boiled until just tender and cut into medium dice

2 small shallots or 1 large, thinly sliced

½ cup fresh or frozen peas

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

To cook the goat:

Trim any fat off the goat and remove any silverskin. Combine the olive oil, rosemary, garlic, crushed red pepper, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Marinate the goat meat overnight in this mixture. 

Heat the oven to 400˚ F. In a large, heavy-based braising pan (a pan with sides about 4 inches high), heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Remove the goat from the marinade but reserve the marinade ingredients. Season the goat lightly all over with kosher salt. Sear the goat on all sides until golden brown; this should take 12 to 15 minutes. Add enough broth to cover the bottom of the pan by 1 inch, and add the reserved marinade ingredients to the pan as well. Roast the goat, basting it every 15 to 20 minutes, adding more broth as needed, until the meat is tender and falling off the bone, 2 to 2 ½ hours. Check on the shoulder earlier in the cooking time, as it will take a little less time to cook; take the shoulder out earlier if necessary.

Reserve the goat separately from the sauce. Strain the sauce and let the goat cool. When the goat is cool enough to work with, cut the meat off the bone and slice it into pieces that are a little larger than bite size. 

To Serve:

If serving the goat right away, degrease the sauce by repeatedly dipping a large spoon or ladle just beneath its surface until the spoon fills with mostly clear fat; discard the fat. If you are cooking the goat ahead of serving it—it can be prepared a day or two ahead up to this point—refrigerate the goat and the strained sauce separately (moisten the meat with a little of the sauce). Before reheating, remove any hardened fat on top of the sauce.

Cook the degreased sauce at a rapid simmer until reduced by a third. (The sauce will be thin but very gelatinous. Too much reduction and the sauce will become sticky and unappealing.) 

Reheat the meat in the sauce in a low (225˚ F) oven until heated through. 

To cook the vegetables:

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium-heat. Cook the potatoes until crispy and lightly browned. A few minutes into the cooking, add the shallots and peas so that they cook together. Season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with the chopped parsley. 

To serve:

Heap the potatoes and peas to one side of the plate.  Lay the slices of goat near them and top with the sauce.