Lamb Ragu

This is my brother’s recipe and whenever he cooks it now he makes extra for us as we love it so much!  With the days getting colder this is the perfect warming meal for a dark evening!!  I’m afraid I don’t have exact measurements for this recipe but you can be pretty flexible with the amounts and it always turns out ok!

Ingredients:

• Bone in Lamb leg or shoulder
• Red onions, chopped
• Garlic, minced
• Carrots, chopped into small cubes
• Bottle of red wine
• Lamb Stock
• A couple of bay leaves and fresh thyme and rosemary
• 2 Tins of tomatoes
• Tomato puree
• Salt and pepper

Method

• Season the meat all over and then sear the on all sides in a big casserole dish.
• Remove the meat from the pan and add in chopped onions, carrots and garlic and cook until softened.
• Stir in a good squeeze of tomato puree and let this cook for a few minutes.
• In a separate pan bring ¾ of a bottle of red wine to a boil. Save the rest for yourself!
• Return the meat to the pan and add the wine and lamb stock until the meat is mostly covered.
• Add the fresh herbs and tins of tomatoes.
• Bring all the liquid to a boil and then cover and pop in the oven for about 5 hours (as long as you can) at 140 degrees.
• When the meat is falling off the bone it is ready.
• Take the meat out of the dish and shred it all before adding it back into the remaining sauce you have created (if there is a lot of liquid left you can reduce this down on the hob first). You might also want to remove the bay leaves and rosemary and thyme stalks!
• Serve with your favourite pasta! There are usually plenty of leftovers for the freezer as well!

 Helen Edwardson