Lamb Stifado
Lamb Stifado is a meltingly tender, slow-cooked stew of lamb shoulder with onions in a sauce spiced with cinnamon and cloves.
Servings 6
Calories 422kcal
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg trimmed lamb shoulder cut into roughly 4-5 cm (2") pieces
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 pickling/baby onions (see my notes)
- 1 large brown onion sliced (see my notes)
- 4 fresh garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- a pinch of cinnamon (see my notes)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 375 ml dry red wine
- 400 g tinned cherry tomatoes tomatoes broken up slightly (see my notes)
- 375 ml beef stock
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
- Heat olive oil (2 tbsp) in a large, heavy-based pot. Fry sliced brown onion (1 large) and baby onions (12) until starting to soften, then remove to a plate.
- Fry lamb shoulder (1.5kg cut into 4-5cm/2" pieces) in batches until browned then add to the plate with the onions. When the last of the lamb is finished browning, add reserved lamb and onions back to the pot.
- Add garlic cloves (4 - crushed) and fry for 30 seconds.
- Then add in tomato paste (2 tbsp), ground cumin (2 tsp), fresh rosemary (1 teaspoon - finely chopped), ground cloves (¼ tsp), and cinnamon (a pinch) then fry for a further minute.
- Add red wine vinegar (1 tbsp) and dry red wine (375ml) to the pot and simmer to reduce by about a third.
- Add tinned cherry tomatoes (1 x 400ml tin - tomatoes broken up slightly), beef stock (375ml), and fine salt (1 tsp) then simmer with the lid on but slightly ajar (see my notes) for 1½ hours or until lamb is tender. Add more cinnamon or salt as required then serve.
Notes
- More colour means more flavour. When browning the lamb you want some good colour, not just beige! This will give you bags more flavour in the end.
- Trim the lamb as well as you can, and skim off any excess fat that has risen to the top after it's finished cooking.
- I am serving 2 baby onions per person in this recipe. You could go with just one if you like. If you can't find small onions for this recipe you could substitute some or all of them with more sliced brown onions too.
- I like to break up the cherry tomatoes a little while they are still in the tin so more of them release their juices.
- This lamb stifado is simmered with the lid on, but open a crack to keep it moist while the lamb is getting good and tender. I wedge a teaspoon in between the pot and the lid to allow a small amount of steam to vent without it drying out. Without this, the tomato-based sauce tends to splutter and splatter.
- I use cinnamon a bit like salt in this recipe - to taste. Start with the pinch as written in the recipe, then you can add a little more at the end if you like.
Nutrition
Calories: 422kcal