lamb stew with artichokes

photo credit: Bon Appetit

When spring has sprung, get your green on with this light, inexpensive stew that I developed this recipe for Bon Appetit. It’s based on a classic Roman dish and is delicious with farro or pasta and a dry Frascati wine.   If you can’t find baby artichokes, pare 6 regular artichokes down to the heart and cut it into quarters.

ingredients

3 pounds boneless lamb stew
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1 lemon
1 cup Italian parsley leaves
3 cloves garlic
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
olive oil
2 large leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1-1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
12 baby artichokes

directions

Remove meat from wrapping and pat dry. Trim off excess fat; cut meat into 2-inch pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and several grindings of pepper and toss well. Set aside. Grate zest from lemon (set lemon aside). In a food processor, or by hand, mince together parsley leaves, lemon zest, and garlic.

In a Dutch oven or other heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, warm 3 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the meat in batches and cook, turning as needed, until well browned on all sides, adding more oil to pan as necessary. When last batch of meat has been removed, add leeks and onion to pan and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley mixture and thyme and cook 30 seconds until fragrant, then pour in broth. Put meat and any accumulated juices back in pan. Let come to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is tender, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with cold water and squeeze juice from reserved lemon into bowl. Snap tough, outer leaves off artichokes, stopping when you reach the first yellow leaves. Trim stem and about 1/2-inch off top of each artichoke, dropping artichoke into lemon water as you work. Set bowl aside.

When meat is tender, drain artichokes, cut each one in half lengthwise, and add to pan. Let mixture come to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and continue cooking until artichokes are tender when pierced with a knife, about 15 minutes. To serve, season stew to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with additional chopped parsley, if desired.