Cook time: 3 ½-4 hours | Active time: 30-45 minutes
Cookware: Dutch oven (cast-iron/enameled)
For a more fluid and fun cooking experience, have all ingredients prepared/cut before cooking—“mise en place."
Lamb Ragout Bruschetta
Ingredients
3 pounds lamb shoulder (deboned, fat trimmed, and cubed)
Grapeseed oil or other high-heat oil
1 small onion, chopped
6 baby portabella mushrooms, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons tomato purée
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef or chicken stock
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
1 can (6 ounces) pitted black olives, halved
Salt
Pepper
Fresh parsley
French bread, sliced
Directions
Preheat Oven to 350°F
Make Sofrito
Dice the large onion, carrots, and celery stalks. You can also do this in a food processor, but be careful not to purée it. You want the vegetable mix to be very fine but not watery. Set aside for later.
Brown the Lamb
Heat your Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium heat.
While that’s heating, pat your lamb shoulder chunks dry to allow for prime browning.
Add enough oil to coat the bottom surface of the Dutch oven and heat for 30 seconds.
Place lamb shoulder chunks in oil and listen to that sizzle! Flip as needed to sear all sides without burning—getting a nice brown crust can take a minute or two.
Remove from the Dutch oven and set the seared lamb aside.
*Keep any brown bits left in the pot, if not burned, as this adds flavor.
Onions and Mushrooms
After removing the lamb from the Dutch oven, reduce the heat to below medium.
Add the chopped small onion and a pinch of salt.
As the onion begins to caramelize, add chopped mushroom and a pinch of salt.
Shrink the mushroom to at least half its original size.
Cook Sofrito
With the onion and mushroom mixture still in the pot, add the sofrito and cook for a couple of minutes until the moisture is out.
Add tomato purée and cook for another couple of minutes.
Deglaze
Add the cup of wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to release the flavorful brown bits (fond).
Reduce the wine to half of its original volume.
Braise
Once the wine is reduced, add the seared lamb back into the pot and stir in 2 cups of beef/chicken stock. The liquid should barely reach the top of the meat, so add more or less, depending.
Top with minced rosemary.
Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and cook at 350°F for 3 hours. Check periodically for evaporated liquid and add more if needed (it’s okay if it reduces a little bit).
Add chopped tomatoes and black olives in the last 30 minutes of braising.
Remove from the oven, let rest, and season with salt to taste.
Bruschetta
Brush olive oil on one side of the French bread slices and grill with olive oil side facing down until char lines develop.
Enjoy!
Spoon ragout on top of the grilled bruschetta. Garnish with parsley if desired. Cheers!
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