Mean's Lamb You Can Eat With A Spoon

Total Time: 6 hrs 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 6 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 leg of lamb
• 2 onions, peeled & quartered
• 6 garlic cloves
• 10 shallots, peeled
• 1 (750 ml) bottle red wine (zinfandel)
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces pancetta, chopped
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• fresh rosemary or thyme
• 4 bay leaves

Recipe

• 1 cut most of the fat from the lamb.
• 2 sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• 3 heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the pot and brown lamb slowly on all sides, about 15 minutes.
• 4 or you can brown in the oven in a roasting pan on high heat.
• 5 preheat oven to 325°.
• 6 remove browned lamb& set aside.
• 7 sauté onion, shallots and garlic ( with pancetta, if used) until caramelized–about 20 minutes.
• 8 remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• 9 discard fat in pan.
• 10 add wine and 2 cups stock and boil rapidly until reduced by half, scraping up any browned bits.
• 11 add herbs,tomato paste and reserved vegetables to pan.
• 12 return lamb, fat side up, to the pot.
• 13 if needed, pour in enough additional stock to reach two-thirds of the way up sides of meat.
• 14 cover tightly and bake until done, basting often to keep the lamb from becoming dry.
• 15 as the meat cooks and is constantly basted, the rich sauce is absorbed and the meat becomes very succulent.
• 16 the dish is done when the lamb falls off the bone in pieces when prodded with a fork – this takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour per pound (lb) (metric = 1 hour per 450 g).
• 17 (after browning).
• 18 plan on seven hours total for an entire leg of lamb. ( example calculation is based on a 2.8 kg / 6.1 lb leg).
• 19 remove the lamb to a platter.
• 20 cover with heavy foil to keep warm.
• 21 pour off all the liquid into a saucepan, skim the fat and boil down about 20 minutes, until it is rich and thick.
• 22 correct the seasoning and serve as a sauce over the lamb and vegetables.
• 23 serving suggestions: serve with potato & root vegetable mash or roasted vegetables.