Braised Lamb Ragu
Slowly braising boneless lamb shoulder in tomatoes, red wine, and stock gives you this rich, melt-in-the-mouth, meaty lamb ragu that is insanely flavorful and warmly comforting. Toss it with some Pappardelle pasta to make it wholesome and pair it with a glass of wine for a heartwarming evening meal.
Everyone makes Beef Ragu, but have you ever tried Lamb Ragu? Though not as popular, the latter one has a robust flavor and a rich mouthfeel. Boneless Lamb shoulder chunks are slowly braised in a rich tomato sauce. Slow cooking gives the most tender shredded lamb ragu that
Red wine adds a depth of flavor. If you are not a fan of tasting the alcohol in the food, the trick is to reduce it well before adding the lamb. This trick always works for me in Slow Cooker Lamb Stew Recipe, where you can barely taste the wine while eating.
Slow-cooked awesomeness
Time is a luxury that many of us can ill afford. With our busy schedules, sometimes getting a homecooked meal to the dinner table seems like a remarkable achievement. Thus, the term slow cooked might be one that will just make you go looking for a recipe that shouts quick! easy! fast!
But wait. There are multiple reasons why a slow cooked recipe should just be the one that you are looking for even on a busy day.
Reasons why you should make the slow-cooked Lamb ragu
- Slow to cook but fast to finish – The hands-on part of this recipe is only to prep the ingredients and saute them together. Should take you about 30 minutes max. This is the fast-to-finish part. Leave the rest of the time for the heat to convert humble ingredients into heavenly deliciousness. Slow to cook!
- Uses pantry ingredients – There is no need to plan an extra trip to the grocery store. What you have is what you use.
- One pot, one ladle – I love cooking, but scrubbing the utensils? Nuh-uh, not so much. So, let’s maximize the cooking time and minimize the clean up.
- Perfect for meal prep – Cook a big batch on Sunday. Enjoy it for a relaxed lunch. Then, freeze or refrigerate the rest into weekday-night portions. Trust me, you would want to pair a different pasta with it and have it every night of the week.
- Insanely delicious – I sometimes wonder if this point should head the list or be at the bottom? But, any which ways this recipe delivers a perfect 10 on the delicious scale! Try it to know it.
I hope I have convinced you to give my awesome Slow-cooked lamb ragu recipe a try. And when you label your portions, do add a little smiley to it. Or maybe five smileys. To give it a 5-star rating and ensure that a cooked portion is always available in your freezer for you to relish.
Ingredients
- Lamb – Boneless lamb shoulder slow cooks beautifully to give a melt-in-your-mouth ragu.
- Mirepoix – A combination of finely diced onions, celery and carrot, sauteed on a low flame with minced garlic provide a flavorful base to the ragu.
- Tomato – 1 can of plum tomatoes to provide acidity.
- Tomato paste – 3 tablespoons impart a distinct umami flavor to the dish and help to thicken the sauce.
- Red wine – As the wine slow cooks, the taste concentrates and lends a mildly acidic and fruity flavor to the dish.
- Beef stock – Provides a base for the broth and a deep flavor to the ragu.
- Seasonings – Salt, pepper, chili flakes, and herbs.
How to make braised lamb ragu
Brown the meat and saute the Mirepoix
- Trim the excess fat off the lamb shoulder and cut it into 1-inch cubes. I pat the cubes dry with a kitchen towel so that they roast and not steam when they hit the hot pan. After drying the cubes, season them with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottom pot with lid to medium heat. Add the seasoned lamb pieces in a single layer a little apart. Overcrowding the meat will result in undesirable steaming, so I recommend browning the meat in batches depending on your quantity.
- Cook the cubes undisturbed for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Transfer the seared cubes to a dish, cover and keep aside.
- There will some brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot at this stage. Add finely cubed onion to the same pot for it to absorb the flavors of the meat. Saute for a few minutes until the onion turns translucent.
- Add in diced carrot and celery (Here is a hack- Use a food processor to finely dice the veggies) Saute on low heat for another 2- 3 minutes. These aromatics add the first layer of the flavor base to the ragu. Once done, add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until it smells good.
Preparing the lamb ragu
- Stir in tomato paste and saute on low flame, taking care not to burn the mixture.
- Deglaze pot by adding red wine followed by the plum tomatoes. Scrap the bottom of the pan to remove any stuck brown bits. ( If not scraped well, the brown bits might burn while slow cooking the ragu later).
- Let the wine reduce by half until you can’t smell the alcohol.
- Add beef stock, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme and seasonings. Give everything in the pot a good stir and let it cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the browned lamb cubes and any liquid from the meat, back to the pot. Cover and let it simmer on the stove top for 1 hour 30 minutes or until the lamb is fork tender.
- Alternately you can braise in the oven – Close the pot with lid and place it in a pre-heated oven @350 F for up to 2 – 2.5 hours or until lamb is fork tender.
Tossing in some pappardelle
Once the meat cubes and sauce transform into melt-in-the-mouth lamb ragu, take out the required amount and toss in some cooked pappardelle pasta and a bit of the reserved pasta water. Let it simmer on a low flame for a couple of minutes for the pasta to absorb the meaty flavor. Garnish with some cheese and fresh basil, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy a simply delicious homemade meal.
How to make it in a Slow Cooker?
You can absolutely make it in slowcooker. But to make it in a slow cooker, you still have to brown the lamb and make the sauce base on the stovetop. After you add the browned lamb back to sauce, shift all the content to a crock pot and braise on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours until the lamb shoulder is fall-apart tender.
Serving Suggestions
Though the ragu goes well with the pappardelle, I sometimes pair it with a pasta with ridges, so that the delicious meat finds its way into all the nooks and crevices of the pasta. Conchiglie, gnocchi, cavatelli or good ol’ fusili. All of them work well.
The ragu tastes amazing over some creamy mashed potatoes and a fresh salad on the side. Or even better spoon it over creamy Polenta.
Last but not least, do not miss having a toasty crusty bread handy. It is perfect for mopping up any and all leftover ragu.
Storing Suggestions
The flavor of the meaty ragu develops over time so can be safely refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. With the variety of pasta that it can be paired with, I guarantee that you will be pulling out a portion every weekday night. So, that’s your meal prep covered for a week!
To store it for longer, do not add the pasta, the cheese or the basil garnishes. Once the ragu is ready, cool it down completely and portion it out into freezer bags. Slightly press on these bags to make them flat and then they will stack up nicely in your freezer compartment. The ragu can stay up to 3 months in the freezer and ensure a cozy meal any time you want.
When it is time to consume, pull out a pack and thaw it by placing it in the refrigerator the previous night. You can alternatively leave it on your countertop for a couple of hours. Once thawed, gently heat it in a pot till it bubbles, add any kind of cooked pasta with a little pasta water if required. Give it a good toss and simmer it for a couple of minutes. Garnish with parmesan cheese and basil and serve.
If you are a fan of chunky rich sauce with pasta then give this Gnocchi Bolognese a try.
Slow braised lamb ragu
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb lamb shoulder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 medium onion
- ¾ cup carrot
- ½ cup celery
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¾ cup red wine
- 1 can whole plum tomato 400gms
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leave
- 1 sprig rosemary + 2 sprig thyme
- 1.5 cup beef stock
Instructions
Browning Lamb
- Trim excess fat and cut lamb to 1-inch cubes. Pat them dry with a kitchen towel. (ref note 1). Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottom pot with lid to medium heat. Add seasoned lamb pieces in a single layer a little apart ( if the pot is small, brown lamb in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding and prevent it from steaming).
- After adding lamb to the pot cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Keep aside browned lamb pieces covered.
Making Ragu Base
- In the same pot(with all the goodness from brown caramelized bits), add onion. Saute for a minutes until it is translucent.
- Add in carrot and celery. Saute for another 2- minutes. Towards the end add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until it smells good.
- Stir in tomato paste and saute on low taking care not to burn.
- Deglaze pot by adding red wine followed by tomatoes. Scrap the bottom of the pan to remove any stuck brown bits. ( If not scraped well, the brown bits might burn while slow cooking the ragu later).
- Let the wine reduce by half and you can't smell alcohol anymore.
- Add beef stock, bay leaf, rosemary, thyme and seasoning. Give everything a good stir and let it cook for 5 minutes.
- Add browned lamb and any liquid in the container back to the pot. Cover and let it simmer on stove top for 1 hour 30 minutes or until the lamb is fork tender.
- To braise in the oven – Close the pot with lid and place it in a pre-heated oven @350 F for up to 2 hours- 2.5 hours or until lamb is fork tender.
- Take out the required amount to toss some pasta, rest let it cool, and freeze in small portions.
Pappardelle pasta with Lamb Ragu
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook 8-ounce Pappardelle or pasta of your choice to al dente according to package directions. Reserve a cup of pasta cooking water.
- Add a couple of ladles of lamb ragu and 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water to a skillet. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, about 1/3rd cup of parmesan cheese, and fresh basil. Toss well to coat pasta with the ragu and serve.
Notes
- Dry lamb pieces brown and caramelize well. If you have time, you can keep the lamb pieces uncovered in refrigerator for couple of hour for it to dry a bit. If lamb is frozen, keep frozen lamb in a colander, a bowl underneath to collect the liquid, and thaw overnight.
- Sauting the sofrito( onion + garlic + celery + carrot) until it is softened and aromatic is an additional step but its worth the extra 5-minutes time.
- I personally don’t like to taste red wine in the finished dish, hence to avoid that make sure you reduce red wine well until the alcohol smell is almost gone.
- To make sofrito, here is a hack- run roughly chopped veggies(onion, celery, carrot) one by one in a food processor until it resembles mince like texture.
Nutrition
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