Laura’s Slow Cooker Hearty Lamb Casserole With Red Wine And Italian Herbs!

Ingredients:

• 1kg baking potatoes – peeled and cut into small chunks

• 600g lamb shoulder or leg – cut into small chunks

• 1 large turnip – peeled and cut into small chunks

• 4/5 large carrots – peeled and cut reasonably thickly into diagonal slices

• 1 large swede – peeled and cut into small chunks

• 2 large brown onions – peeled, cut in half and the cut into slim strips

• 2 large leeks – sliced lengthways and sliced into 1cm strips

• 50g butter

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 tablespoons plain flour

• 1 lamb stockpot

• 1 vegetable stockpot

• 1 tablespoon of My Italian Herb Mix

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 teaspoons of double concentrate tomato paste

• 1 tin of good quality finely diced tomatoes

• 500ml dark red wine. I like to use Shiraz but Merlot works too. My favourites are Casillero Del Diablo and Jam Shed.

• 1 tablespoon good quality Balsamic Vinegar

• Salt and pepper

You will need: 

• Several dishes of various sizes

• Sharp knife, ideally a Chef’s knife

• Measuring cups and measuring spoons

• Chopping board

• Flying pan or skillet

• Large capacity slow cooker, mine is 6.5L  

Method:

1. Set slow cooker on high heat so bowl heats up.

2. Chop the carrots, swede, turnip and leek up as above and place together in a large bowl and set aside. Chop up the potatoes, place them in a large bowl and also set aside. Slice onion as above and also set aside in a bowl.

3. Chop up meat if not already chopped, place 1 tablespoon of flour into a dish along with some salt and pepper and coat the cubed meat and set the meat aside once it is all coated. Discard the used flour and thoroughly wash your hands and any work surfaces and utensils used on the raw meat.

4. In a frying pan or skillet, heat up the pan and melt ½ of the butter on full heat, once the butter has fully melted add ½ of the olive oil, this is so the butter doesn’t burn, then add ½ of the meat. Brown the meat on all sides adding a little salt and pepper as the meat is browning. Once the first batch of meat is browned, transfer this to the heated-up dish of the slow cooker along with any juices that are in the pan and return to pan to the heat, add the remaining ½ of the butter and once melted add the remaining olive oil. Then add the second half of the meat and brown this too. Once browned, add the meat only to the bowl of the slow cooker keeping the butter oil mixture in the pan. Add the onions to the pan and turn the heat down to medium. Once the onions have softened, slowly add in the remaining flour and a little water. Transfer this also to the bowl of the slow cooker.

5. Add the vegetables and mix everything well, coating everything in the flour paste. Add the Italian herbs mix, bay leaves, tomato paste, tin of tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and wine and let everything come to a boil. This will take a while as it is a slow cooker so make sure the heat is as high as possible.

6. When you’ve got a rapid boil, add the 2 stockpots and enough water to cover the mixture, give everything a really good stir, cover and leave on high heat for several hours until the meat is lovely and tender and falling apart, the potatoes are nice and mushy and the carrots are perfectly tender and sweet! Add some final salt and a generous amount of black pepper and it’s ready to serve.

7. Serve it with some nice hot crusty bread rolls with butter and let it warm your tummy.