Braised Lamb Necks; exploring

Lamb necks.

I will freely admit that never in my life have I aspired to cooking lamb necks, but there they were, in my freezer, and something had to be done with them.

It’s not something that I ever thought to buy living in the Midwest. We could get lamb chops, or a rack of lamb, but other cuts were not very common. I think I saw a leg of lamb once…..

So I did what one does these days…. I googled lamb necks.

The following is, as usual, a combination of what I found.

You will note the big platter of lamb necks in the photo. No, we did not have guests…. that was just for us. There are a lot of bones in lamb necks. We had a little leftover, but not a lot.

Did we like them? Yeah…. Actually, they were fantastic!

The meat was very tender, fell off the bones, and was full of flavor. Think Osso Bucco – but a different part of a different animal.

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Braised Lamb Necks

Print Recipe

These are made similar to Osso Bucco – the long, slow cooking needed for tender meat. It’s worth it.

• Author: Katie
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
• Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: Lamb

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 – 3 pounds (1 – 1 1/2 kilo) lamb necks
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, cut into large pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 medium shallots, peeled but left whole
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 cups (16oz, 480ml) red wine
• 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) chicken broth
• 1 cup (8oz, 240gr) chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup (2oz, 70gr) tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves

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Instructions

• Heat the oil in a heavy Dutch oven.
• Add the lamb and brown well, turning as needed, 7 – 8 minutes.
• Remove to a plate.
• Add the onion, celery, and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, carrots, and sauté 5 minutes longer.
• Add the tomato paste and sauté, stirring, for 3 minutes.
• Add red wine and cook, stirring, until all is well combined. 
• Add broth, tomatoes, herbs and stir well.
• Add lamb necks and spoon sauce over the top if needed. 
• Cover and put into the oven 350F (175C) and braise for 2 1/2 hours.
• Add shallots and braise for 30 minutes longer.
• Remove lamb and vegetables to a platter, spoon some sauce over and serve.

Notes

You could add potatoes, cut into wedges at the same time as the shallots. We had it with polenta.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/2 recipe
• Calories: 950
• Sugar: 17.4 g
• Sodium: 727.4 mg
• Fat: 46.5 g
• Saturated Fat: 19.7 g
• Trans Fat: 2.6 g
• Carbohydrates: 40.2 g
• Fiber: 7.9 g
• Protein: 54.9 g
• Cholesterol: 159.8 mg

There are lots more yummy Lamb Recipes.

I had planned on doing these in my Instant pot….. they didn’t fit.

I think this is the last of my lamb postings. I still have a shoulder left to do but I’m running out of creative ideas. It’s time to move on to different things.

As to different things…. We were out and about the other day. It was a sunshiny day, mon mari had some errands and I went ‘along for the ride’.

It was nice to be out of the house and into the sun.

While he was busy I wandered around the ville. It’s not one we normally go to so I was doing some leisurely exploring.

I happened on this tiny park with huge trees.

As I got closer for the photo I saw the river below…. I hadn’t even known it was there.

I think we need to go back for a picnic.