My husband and I both love lamb and we love ragu. We had roasted a fantastic lamb shoulder from our favorite local meat market and of course, I froze the leftovers. I personally think the lamb really makes this recipe, but if you aren’t a fan you could easily substitute about any of your favorite meats. We also made homemade pasta for the first time to go with this ragu that made it even that much better, but I made several completely different meals with this ragu that all turned out fantastic!
I think you are all going to be completely shocked when you hear how this recipe starts…. olive oil, diced onion and minced garlic – surprise! 🙂 About 2 tbsp oil, 1 onion and 1/4 cup minced garlic. Then, I add in about 1.5 cups of diced carrots. I prefer the organic, colored carrots – I swear they taste better, have a better consistency and of course, I’m growing them in my garden right now! You can use whatever carrots you prefer.
Next, add in about 1 pint of sliced baby bella mushrooms. Then comes the fun part.. add in your heirloom tomatoes, about 8 medium to large. You crush them by hand over your pot. Be careful – sometimes they like to squirt across the room or into an eye!
Add in a whole bunch of fresh parsley – just remove from the stems and throw it in. Then add your meat. We had pre-cooked lamb that I diced into large bite size pieces. You could add beef or chicken or really anything you like, but the lamb is the best. 🙂 Add about 2 tablespoons of dried oregano (I save mine from the garden and I also swear it’s way different than what you buy at the store), 3/4 can of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of smoked paprika, ground peppercorn to taste and crushed red pepper flakes. (again depend on your spice tolerance)
Simmer this down for about 15 minutes and add about 1.5-2 cups of a dry red wine. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes or longer. I always say the longer sauces simmer the better!
Serve over pasta or like we did the following weekend – over potatoes topped with an egg for a breakfast hash. Both were delish! And several friends enjoyed some of the leftovers as well – including ones that had never had lamb before.
Lamb Ragu
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1.5 cups diced carrots
- 1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 8 heirloom tomatoes medium-large
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley
- 2 cups pre-cooked lamb or other meat approx
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 3/4 can tomato paste small can
- 2 tbsp smoke paprika
- ground peppercorn to taste
- crushed red pepper flakes to taste
- 1.5-2 cups dry red wine
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in pan and add onion and garlic. Dice carrots and add to the mixture. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add mushrooms. Crush the tomatoes by hand into the pot. Have a towel handy as this can get messy!
- Add in parsley and your cooked meat (lamb). Stir together well.
- Add in dried oregano, tomato paste, smoked paprika, ground peppercorn and crushed red pepper flakes. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
- Add in about 1.5-2 cups of wine and simmer for another 20-30 minutes.
- Serve over pasta, potatoes, rice or share what other ideas you might have. ~Enjoy!
