Lamb Ragu
The lamb offers a rich flavor while the fresh herbs give it the garden aroma and the citrus zest brings it to life!
Marthinus StrydomThe Story
In Italian cuisine, ragù is a meat-based sauce that is commonly served with pasta. An Italian gastronomic society, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, documented several ragù recipes. The recipes' common characteristics are the presence of meat and the fact that all are sauces for pasta. The most typical is ragù alla bolognese (Bolognese sauce). Other types are ragù alla napoletana, and ragù alla barese.
In northern Italian regions, ragù typically uses minced, chopped or ground meat, cooked with sauteed vegetables in a liquid. The meats may include one or more of beef, chicken, pork, duck, goose, lamb, mutton, veal, or game, including their offal. The liquids can be broth, stock, water, wine, milk, cream or tomato, often in combination. If tomatoes are included, they are typically limited relative to the meat, making it a meat stew rather than a tomato sauce with added meat.
More about Italy
Italy is one of those countries about which you probably have quite a number of preconceptions before you have put one foot into the country. A country of olive oil and mafia, pasta, wine and sunshine, roman ruins and renaissance palaces, Italy has a lot to offer its visitors. Although some of these images are appealing, it would be a shame if that was the only thing you come away with. Italy is certainly much more complex and interesting than that.
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Ingredients
Method
- Heat olive oil in a Dutch over over medium-high heat.
- Season lamb shoulder with salt and pepper; cook in hot oil until well-browned on all sides, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove shoulder to a platter.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Stir onion, celery, carrot, fennel, and garlic into the rendered fat remaining in the Dutch oven; season with salt. Cook and stir the vegetables in the hot fat, scraping the bottom of the pot to release any dark bits of meat stuck, until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.
- Return lamb shoulder to the Dutch oven along with any juices accumulated on the platter; add tomatoes and white wine. Bundle marjoram, thyme, and rosemary together with kitchen twine; add to the Dutch oven and submerge in liquid. Place a cover on the Dutch oven, bring the liquid in it to a boil, and transfer pot to the oven.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Pour 1 cup water into the Dutch oven and continue cooking for 1 hour more.
- Remove lamb to a cutting board, cut into small pieces, and return to the Dutch oven. Pour remaining 1 cup water over the lamb and stir.
- Cook until lamb is tender, about 30 minutes more.
- Stir rosemary, orange zest, and red pepper flakes into the lamb mixture. Add more water if the mixture is too thick.
