lamb

dark, sticky stew

servings
Serves 6

method

This reminds me of winter days in my youth, when I would come home late completely soaked through and shivering from playing down by the stream in the pouring rain. Mum would give me a rollicking about catching pneumonia, and then she'd give me a big bowl of stew. This dish just makes you feel really happy, and it's also dead cheap to make.

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Put your lamb into a bowl and season well with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Finely chop your rosemary leaves and add to the bowl with the flour. Mix around so that the meat is completely covered. Fry the lamb in a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a hot casserole-type pan – do this in batches so the pieces get a nice bit of colour, then remove from the pan and put to one side.

Turn the heat down, then fry your onion, mushrooms and carrots for about 5 minutes until softened and slightly coloured. Add the lamb back to the pan along with the parsnip, Marmite, pearl barley, ale and stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes while you skewer 3 chipolatas on to each of the skewers or rosemary sticks. Just before the stew goes in the oven, add the chipolatas to the pan. Then place a lid on or make a cartouche, wet it and tuck this over the pan. Cook for around an hour, or until the lamb falls apart. I love to eat it just as it is, almost like a thick soup, with some crusty bread.

Try this: To really get the flavors going, the Italians have something called gremolata: finely chop some flat-leaf parsley, a clove of garlic and the zest from 1 or 2 lemons (or try oranges, which are also fantastic). Mix this up, sprinkle over the top of your stew and stir in – it will really give it an amazing kick.

Or this: You can play around with different root veg, or even use different cuts of meat – beef works really well in this stew. Just be aware that you may have to adjust the cooking time. It's ready when the meat is tender and falls apart.

• from Jamie's Kitchen

ingredients

• 800g stewing lamb, roughly diced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• 2 heaped tablespoons flour
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 8 field mushrooms, torn in half
• 1 handful of baby carrots, scrubbed
• 1 parsnip, peeled and grated
• 1 dessertspoon Marmite
• 2 heaped tablespoons pearl barley
• 285ml rich ale (Guinness, Caffrey's, John Smith's)
• 565ml stock, preferably organic
• 6 skewers or sticks of fresh rosemary, leaves removed
• 18 chipolata sausages, preferably free-range or organic

share this page

daily recipe rss

new recipe rss

tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by andrew on Sun 12 Feb 2012 @ 19:52

the sausages are all wrong.. they were waay overpowering the first time we made this. the next time, i took half a pound of sausage meat (not in its casing), and sauteed it a bit to cook off some of the grease before dumping it in. that seemed to do the trick.

2. by Niall on Sun 12 Feb 2012 @ 15:13

Great dish... but I do not like Marmite. So as being from Ireland I added a traditional Irish ingredient, YR Sauce, made the dish fabulous! and also added Red wine instead of Guinness...made it even better! Please try it!

3. by Fiona on Tue 07 Feb 2012 @ 12:30

I thought this stew was awful - it tasted bitter, which I assume is the marmite, overall extremely disappointing!

4. by Mama on Tue 31 Jan 2012 @ 21:36

The sausages ruin an otherwise lovely receipe! They make it too fatty, sloppy and spoil the flavour.

5. by kez on Thu 19 Jan 2012 @ 09:45

this recipe makes a lovely lovely stew, amazing flavour. wouldnt use sausages again though as they just seemd to absorb the water and ended up a flavorless rubbery mess. will defo be making it again at hubby's request!

6. by Paul on Sat 03 Dec 2011 @ 16:59

The boiling point of alcohol is 80 Celsius so there will be none left if the casserole is bubbling nicely (just under 100 Celsius).<br /> <br /> Enjoy<br />

7. by khatija on Tue 29 Nov 2011 @ 12:02

hi i dont thik that Yasmin's question is ridiculous at all. Muslims all over the world cannot consume any alcholo at all, even in its most diluted form. Hence we are restricted from trying out these wonderful recipes or purchasing the cookbooks.<br /> by the way Jamie, here in South Africa your Jamie at Home show is airing and i am fanatical about watching it. Simply superb and throughly educational too. Keep it up

8. by NN on Tue 13 Oct 2009 @ 11:24

Yasmin I believe most of the alcohol evaporates when cooking something for this length of time, but if you're worried why not try a non-alcoholic beer? It may taste a bit different, but closer than if you replaced it with stock.

Best thing about winter is trying out all your fab stews Jamie. Thanks and keep it up!!

9. by nick on Sun 11 Oct 2009 @ 19:16

ridiculous. I love it. ultimate stew

10. by yasmin on Sun 04 Oct 2009 @ 20:15

I don't drink alcohol, is there an alternative to ale or can it be left out. I find it annoying that some of your good recipes contain alcohol in the sauce or stock, there is never a mention of
alternatives, is water okay instead?

leave comments

related recipes

best lamb cutlets with special basil sauce
This dish is fantastic and you can literally have it ready in just over 5 minutes. Use either wild mushrooms...
Read more