Ingredients
Serves 62 x 1 kg forequarter lamb legs, chopped through the bone at 4 cm intervals to give 12 pieces
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
12 garlic cloves
¼ cup fresh rosemary leaves, discard stalks
2 medium onions, cut into 1cm dice
2 sticks celery, cut into I cm dice
1 cup basil leaves
2 cups white wine
1 Iitre lamb or chicken stock
½ cup chopped parsley to serve
Caper & Herb Salad
Combine the following:
1 tablespoon capers
½ bunch of picked parsley
½ bunch of picked coriander
chive batons
Splash lemon juice
Splash Olive oil
Splash Sherry vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
Method
This is a really popular dish at La Luna Bistro. I find diners love the way the long, slow cooking makes the lamb all sticky and garlicky. Don't be tempted to skimp on the oil; it really is a key component of the dish. When extra-virgin olive oil is called for in a recipe such as this, I always use the best quality I can find. If you're just using it for frying, when most of the oil will be tipped out, then you can use a slightly cheaper one.
I often make this dish using whole baby lamb, or sometimes capretto, which is two-week-old baby goat. As is the case here, the meat is chopped into chunks on the bone before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Season the meat with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a large casserole dish. Add the lamb pieces and sauté over a medium heat until they colour a tight golden brown. Transfer the sealed lamb pieces to a plate and keep warm.
Lower the heat and add the garlic cloves and rosemary to the pan. Leave to sweat gently for a few minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add the diced onion, celery and basil and sweat gently for 2-3 minutes. Return the lamb pieces to the casserole and pour on the wine and enough of the stock to cover. Increase the heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover the casserole and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours, or until the meat is very tender and comes away from the bone.
Increase the temperature to 200°C until lamb is crisp for 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve with caper & herb salad