Lamb Ragout

Ingredients

• 200 g mixed root vegetables (including celery root, parsley root, carrot..)
• 500 g bones (from lamb)
• rosemary
• 1 Garlic clove
• 2 tbsp lard
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• 2 glasses large red wine
• Salt
• ground pepper
• 2 large onions
• 400 g fresh porcini mushrooms
• 1 kg lamb ragout (cut into ~2 cm cubes)
• bay leaf
• 400 g peeled chestnuts
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 40 g Butter
• parsley
• thyme
• 250 g crème double

Instructions

1. 1.

   Clean and chop root vegetables. In a large pot, brown them with the bones, rosemary, and garlic in 1 tbsp lard. Add tomato paste and roast for another 5 minutes. Deglaze with 1 glass of red wine. Add 3 L water and simmer uncovered for 1.5 hours. Strain through a sieve and reduce the stock by about half in the pot. Season with salt and pepper.

2. 2.

   Peel and finely chop onions. Gently wipe mushrooms with a cloth or brush, remove any damaged spots, then slice them.

3. 3.

   Brown the ragout in 1 tbsp lard in a pan. Remove the meat and brown onions in the lard. Return the meat, continue cooking until any released juices are reduced. Deglaze with 1 glass of red wine.

4. 4.

   Add half the mushroom slices and bay leaf to the meat, pour over lamb stock, and simmer until the meat is very tender (this may take 4–6 hours depending on quality). Add water if needed.

5. 5.

   Cook chestnuts in a pot with a pinch of salt, sugar, butter, and 1 glass of water until all liquid evaporates and chestnuts are coated in caramel.

6. 6.

   Season lamb ragout with salt and pepper, add remaining mushrooms. Finish with chopped parsley, thyme, and crème double, serving over warm chestnuts.

7. 7.

   For time savings, the whole dish can be cooked in a pressure cooker for about 1 hour.