Braised Lamb and Vegetables

This is a hearty lamb dish that really makes my mouth water!  I’ve served this on wintry nights with homemade bread and a full glass of red wine.  It’s perfect to get you warmed up and ready for some serious TV watching afterward.

Ingredients

• 1 Package Catelli Brothers Boneless Seasoned Lamb Leg Roast
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 Large onion, sliced
• 1 Parsnip, cut down the middle
• 1 Turnip, thin cuts
• 1 Celery heart, prepared, wide slices
• 4 Large carrots, thick sliced
• 4 New potatoes, quartered
• 1 Package fresh, white mushrooms
• 2 Cups any red wine not worth drinking anymore
• 1 Cup plain old water

Preparation

• Empty bag of lamb meat and retain the juice from the bag.
• Mix juice with the wine. Set aside.
• In a zip-lock bag, put lamb meat, sugar, salt and flour. Mix together. Then, in a large skillet or stew pot, brown the meat in the oil. Remove pieces and set aside.
• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using a Dutch oven (I like enamel/cast iron), put in parsnip, onions, potatoes, turnip, carrots, celery, mushrooms.
• Lay lamb over the vegetables. Pour juice/wine mixture over the meat and vegetables.
• Leave in oven for two-three hours, but baste the lamb (use a turkey baster) every 40 minutes or so. More if you get bored.

Serving

Take lamb out and cut 1/2 inch strips against the grain. Serve with risotto.

The Wine

What goes nicely with this hearty dish is a good shiraz in the Australian style, not the French/Rhone type.