Recipes:
Spring Navarin of Lamb

Preparation Time: 3 hours
Cooking Time: 1.5 hours
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1kg boned shoulder of lamb, diced and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of sugar
60g butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons tomato concentrate
1 litre beef stock
1 large clove of garlic, chopped finely
Bouquet garni
12-16 new potatoes
12-16 carrots scraped, whole
12-16 small onions, skinned
4 to 10 young turnips, peeled and diced
1lb peas, shelled
Chopped parsley

Instructions:

1. Cut lamb into 2 cm pieces and trim excess fat. Sprinkle with seasoning and leave for several hours.
2. Brown the lamb in butter in a saucepan. Stir the flour into the butter and cook to a pale brown roux. Mix in the tomato and half the stock. When smooth, add the garlic and bouquet garni to the lamb, plus extra stock if needed to cover the meat. Bring to the boil, put on the lid and leave to simmer for one hour or until the lamb is almost done.
3. Add the root vegetables and cook for a further 45 minutes without the lid, to reduce and thicken. Skim off any surface fat, season, remove the bouquet garni and add more tomato if you like. Add the peas and continue to simmer for several minutes.
4. Turn the navarin into a hot dish and scatter with parsley. Serve with bread.

Tip:

For best results ensure you use young, fresh vegetables.