A ragu basically refers to a sauce made with meat that is simmered or braised in a liquid, you’ll find hundreds of different styles from across Italy. This dish is made in a Southern Italian style and is very rich with slow-braised lamb in a deeply flavoured sauce. To serve, I recommend using gnocchi or mashed potato but really any pasta would be good as would polenta.
Braised Lamb Ragu
Diced lamb slow cooked in a rich sauce, perfect over pasta or mashed potatoes.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 kg lamb shoulder diced
- 1 brown onion diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- ½ cup sliced dried porcini mushrooms
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cups beef stock
- 1 cup red wine
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- salt and pepper to taste
- to serve pasta of your choice, mashed potato or polenta
- grated parmesan to serve
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Brown the lamb in two batches, cooking for 2 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions and carrots to the pan then cook stirring for 10 minutes or until softened. Add in the garlic, tomato paste and herbs then cook stirring for a further 2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Preheat oven to 160°add the red wine and deglaze the pan. Bring to a boil and allow to reduce by half.
- Add the stock and porcini mushrooms and return the lamb to the pan, stir thoroughly to combine. Bring to a simmer then cover and place into the oven to braise 2 hours.
- Remove from the oven and use two forks to shred the lamb, it should be almost falling apart. Season to taste and serve over pasta/polenta/mashed potato.