Lamb Navarin
- Nigel Barden
- 16 minutes ago
- 1 min read
by Raymond Blanc from Simply Raymond Kitchen Garden (Headline Home)
Photography © Chris Terry
So often the best slow-cooked dishes require little effort and, in return, your home is transformed by the heavenly smells as they drift from the oven. While you may know this dish as lamb stew, in France it is navarin. My mum would cook hers in her cherished cocotte minute, which you may know as a pressure cooker. The stew calls for a cheaper cut of lamb, such as neck fillet or shank, and here I have used shoulder. Cooked over a long period, it becomes meltingly tender and full of flavours, which are enhanced by the root vegetables. A deeply rich and wholesome navarin, this can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge. During that time the flavours will only further deepen and mature.
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 2½ hours
Serves: 6–8
Ingredients
2 white onions
8 garlic cloves
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
5 tomatoes
100g pitted olives, green or black (optional)
1 shoulder of lamb, off the bone (about 1.2– 1.4kg)
4 pinches of sea salt flakes
3 pinches of ground black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 thyme sprigs
2 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 litre chicken stock
To finish (optional)
½ bunch of parsley
Method
Peel the onions and garlic, and coarsely chop the onion into 2cm pieces. Chop the carrots and celery into similar-sized pieces. Quarter the tomatoes. If using olives, drain them from the brine.
Cut the lamb shoulder into pieces of about 3–4cm and season them with a couple of pinches of salt and black pepper.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3½.
Now to the cooking … begin by browning the lamb. Do this in two batches so that you don’t overcrowd the pan. Heat half the oil in a large casserole dish (or large sauté pan, about 30cm in diameter) over a medium-high heat. Lay the pieces of lamb into the hot oil – again, don’t overcrowd the pan – and brown for 6–8 minutes, until they are browned on all sides. Transfer them to a large plate or bowl. Brown the remaining lamb pieces in the same way.
Next, in the same pan heat the rest of the oil over a medium heat. Sweeten the onion, garlic, carrot and celery for 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes, olives (if using), thyme and rosemary and cook for a further 5 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper. Finally, add the flour, stir well and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Return the browned lamb pieces and juices to the casserole. Pour in the chicken stock and gently mix. Cover with a lid (or foil) and place the casserole on the middle shelf of the oven and cook for 2 hours.
Serve from the casserole at the table and just before serving, chop the parsley, if using, and scatter it over the navarin. Serve with boiled new potatoes or crusty bread and perhaps a red wine from Rioja or Côtes du Rhône.
Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish:
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