LEFTOVER LEG OF LAMB STEW

Ciao Bella|Lamb|Leftovers|Soups and Chowders

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

12 ounces mushrooms, sliced into ½” slices

12-15 fresh thyme sprigs, tied in a bundle with kitchen string

3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, stemmed and chopped

1 leftover leg of lamb with meat still on the bone (plus any other leftover meat carved off the bone)

8 cups beef stock

2 cups red wine

2-4 cups water

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons Dish off the Block Ciao Bella Italian Spice Blend

1 cup leftover lamb gravy (optional)

½ cup raw barley

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 2-3” pieces

5 cups carrots, scrubbed clean with a vegetable brush and cut into 2-3” pieces

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot (8-10 quart) over medium high heat.

Add the onions and garlic to the pan drippings and cook for 2 minutes until soft and fragrant. Add the mushrooms, thyme bundle, and rosemary to the pan and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are soft and lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the leftover leg of lamb to the pan. Note – the bone may be larger than your pot and stick out over the edge, but as it cooks, it will soften and you should be able to break it (at the joint) after 1-2 hours so that it can be fully submerged in the broth.

Add the wine, beef stock, salt, black pepper, Ciao Bella Italian spice blend and enough water to cover most of the meat on the bone. If you had leftover gravy, also add 1 cup of that to the pan. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat to low. Cook for 2 hours. You can add a little more water to the pot if it reduces a lot.

Skim any fat off the top of the broth with a large flat spoon and discard. You can do this several times as the stew cooks if there is a lot of fat.

Add the barley, potatoes, and carrots to the pot and bring back to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook for 1 hour or until the barley is cooked and potatoes and carrots are tender.

Remove the lamb bone from the pan and set aside to cool. When it is cool enough to handle, shred the lamb off the bone into large bite-size pieces and add back into the pot along with any additional leftover meat. Bring to a low boil.

Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour with the remaining ½ cup of water in a large jar and shake until flour is dissolved. Add it to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes until the broth thickens. Serve hot in bowls, garnished with parsley and with crusty bread on the side.