Braised Lamb Neck
This recipe is adapted for the slow cooker from the one in the Winter 2007 edition of Spice magazine, which is one of the few foodie magazines to which I subscribe. Spice has a Slow Food focus and really resonates (I love that word) with me.
To adapt any recipe intended for the oven or stove-top for the slow cooker (or crockpot — same thing) it's important to approximately reduce the liquid by approximately half. It will seem, at first, that there is nowhere near enough — but, believe me, there will be plenty of fluid by the time the meal is ready. If you're not using a slow cooker and instead choose to cook this in a casserole in the oven, I suggest doubling the amount of passata and ensure the stock covers the ingredients in the casserole.
Braised Lamb Neck
Tender and rich, and lends itself to HUGE servings!
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 4 lamb necks, cut across into 3 sections each
- flour
- salt
- pepper, freshly ground
- olive oil
- 1 big onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
- 1 cup white wine
- half 690g bottle passata (pureed tomatoes)
- 4 sprigs thyme
- low-salt stock (I used chicken)
Directions
- Lightly dust the necks with seasoned flour.
- Heat a shallow covering of olive oil in a heavy pan and brown the neck sections on all sides until golden brown. Place these in a heavy pot.
- Add the vegetables to the same pan and cook them until they have taken on a little colour. Add these to the pot.
- Then add the wine, tomatoes, thyme and enough stock to almost cover the ingredients. Season well.
- Transfer to the slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours (or place in an oven-proof dish and cook, covered, in a 150˚C oven for about two and a half hours) or until they are meltingly tender.
- Skim off any excess fat and serve with either creamy mashed potatoes or dumplings.
Notes
This dish could also be made with lamb shanks or sections of capretto.
Posted by Vicki on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 10:17 AM in Recipes and Lamb and Slow Cooker.
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I just want to clarify the recipe- the intro implies the recipe is for a slow cooker but the directions refer to cooking in the oven! I’m not sure if the quantity of passata is for the slow cooker or oven. I want to do this in the slow cooker. How much liquid do I need? (Passata and stock) How long should it cook for? On high or low or auto?
Thanks - it sounds delicious.
Posted by Deb on 06/11/11 at 08:06 PM