Peasant Lamb

Since the season has obliged us with a massive dose of 'welcome-to-winter', the time has never been better to sit on your backside with a glass of red and something hearty on your plate. The TV is rot (although a damn sight better without the abhorrent Ross spoiling our Friday nights with ill concieved interviews of genuinely interesting folk) so have a bash at this.

It's the best time of year for using lamb for stews, the meat has plenty of fat and is developing a bit of an older flavour without being really muttony. I get my meat from George Bower in Stockbridge, accountability and high quality.

Half a lamb shoulder (about 1kg including the bone which goes in too)
Tin Borlotti beans
Tin Cannellini beans
Tin chopped tomatoes
2 Celery sticks
2 Carrots
2 Onions
2 Garlic cloves
2 Bay leaves
1 Dried Chilli
Small bunch of Oregano
1 tbsp tomato puree
700ml Vegetable stock
Balsamic vinegar

Take the meat and fat off in large chunks and keep the bone. Let's not fanny about with the fat, leave it in because it has so much flavour and will be completely rendered down in the cooking. Dredge the meat in flour and brown it really hard in olive oil and butter. Don't turn it too much and don't worry about it sticking as it will all unstick in the oven. In generating a really dark golden colour you 're causing reactions (the Maillard reactions) between carbohydrates and proteins that result in hundreds of other complex, aromatic compounds which give the meat and the resulting stew depth and rich, roasted meat flavours and smells.

Chop the veg extremely roughly; bashed garlic cloves and carrots, onions and celery into four or five diagonal bits. Tie up the oregano inside a ribbon of leek with the bay leaves into a simple bouquet garni. That's all the prep you need, put everything together in the pot with the meat, give it a quick stir, let it come to the boil and put it in the oven on gas mark 4 for anything between 2-6hrs. I use veg stock because it leaves more room for the flavour of the lamb and tomatoes, and you're putting the bone in there with the stock veg anyway.

I like it served with a stack of sauteed winter greens; curly kale, cavalo nero, chard and some crusty wholemeal, all from the Farmers Market on Castle Terrace. The last time I made it i washed it down with a Ravenswood Zinfandel. There is a lot of cooking time but prep is about 10mins and it's well worth the wait. A real belter.