Spring Lamb Stew with Young Vegetables

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy casserole or Dutch oven with lid
• •Wooden spoon
• •Ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the lamb

   Pat the lamb dry. This matters. Wet meat doesn't brown, it steams, and browning is where the flavour starts. Heat the olive oil in a heavy casserole over a high heat until it shimmers. Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper, then lay the pieces into the pan in a single layer. Don't crowd them. You may need to do this in two batches. Leave the meat alone for three or four minutes until the underside has gone a deep, sticky brown, then turn and do the same on the other side. When the kitchen smells of something savoury and promising, you're there. Set the lamb aside on a plate.

   Shoulder is the cut for this. It has the fat and the connective tissue that melt into the broth and make everything silky. Leg is too lean and will turn dry. Ask your butcher for shoulder, bone out, in large pieces, and cut it yourself into chunks roughly the size of a walnut.
2. 2

   Soften the aromatics

   Turn the heat down. Add the butter to the pan and let it melt into the lamb drippings. Put in the onion and celery with a pinch of salt and cook gently, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and the celery has lost its crunch. Ten minutes or so. Add the garlic for the last minute. You'll smell it when it's ready.

3. 3

   Build the broth

   Scatter the flour over the vegetables and stir it through for a minute. It thickens the broth just enough to give it body without making it heavy. Pour in the wine and let it bubble, scraping up any caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Those bits are flavour. When the wine has reduced by half, add the stock, the thyme, and the bay leaves. Return the lamb and any juices from the plate. The liquid should come about two-thirds of the way up the meat, not covering it entirely. Bring to a gentle simmer.

   Good stock makes a good stew. If you've got homemade, use it. If you haven't, buy the best you can find, something that looks and smells like it came from an actual animal. Avoid anything that lists salt as the second ingredient.
4. 4

   Braise low and slow

   Put the lid on, slightly ajar, and turn the heat to its lowest setting. You want a lazy bubble, nothing more. A simmer, not a boil. Let the lamb cook for about an hour, checking once or twice. The meat is done when it yields to a fork without resistance, almost falling apart but not quite. If the liquid reduces too much, add a splash of water. This isn't a thick gravy. It's a broth.

5. 5

   Add the young vegetables

   Add the new potatoes and the baby carrots to the pot, pushing them gently into the liquid. Put the lid back on and cook for another fifteen to twenty minutes, until the potatoes are tender when you press them with a knife. Now add the peas and the broad beans. They need almost nothing: five minutes in the hot broth is enough. Overcook them and you lose the green, the sweetness, the whole point of spring in the pot.

   If you can be bothered, slip the broad beans from their grey skins after blanching. The bright jade kernels underneath are sweeter, prettier, and worth the small effort. If you can't be bothered, leave them. It still tastes good.
6. 6

   Finish and serve

   Take the pot off the heat. Fish out the thyme stalks and the bay leaves. Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir it through. It lifts everything, brightens the broth, wakes the whole dish up. Taste the broth and season it properly. Salt first, then pepper. Scatter the parsley and the torn mint over the top. Serve it straight from the pot, ladled into warm bowls with good bread to mop up the broth. There are few better feelings than putting a bowl of this in front of someone on a cool April evening.

Chef Tips

• •The lemon juice at the end is not optional. It's the thing that takes this from a good stew to a spring stew. Without it, the broth sits flat and heavy. With it, everything opens up. Squeeze it in, stir, taste. You'll understand.
• •Mint is doing real work here, not just decoration. Tear it roughly and add it at the last moment so the heat doesn't dull it. The combination of mint, lemon, and lamb is one of the oldest and best ideas in the British kitchen.
• •Make more than you need. This stew improves overnight as the broth concentrates and the flavours settle. Reheat it gently, add a splash of water if the broth has thickened too much, and scatter fresh herbs over the top before serving. The second bowl is often the better one.
• •Serve this with bread that can work for a living. Something with a real crust, torn rather than sliced, that can soak up the broth without falling apart. A good sourdough or a crusty white farmhouse loaf.

Advance Preparation

• •The lamb can be braised up to the end of step four a day ahead and refrigerated. Any fat will solidify on the surface and can be lifted off easily. Reheat gently, then add the vegetables and finish as described.
• •If making ahead, hold back the peas, broad beans, herbs, and lemon juice. Add them only when reheating, so they stay bright and fresh.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 550g)