THE BEST LAMB STEW

Recipe and photo: Angela Landsberg
My husband said this was one of the most delicious lamb stews he has ever had.

115 g bacon (4 strips, chopped into 1 cm strips)
1 kg boneless leg of lam or lam shoulder trimmed of excess fat, cut into 4 cm pieces
½ tablespoon sea salt for the lamb plus 1 teaspoon for stew
1 teaspoon black pepper for lamb plus ½ teaspoon for stew
¼ cup all-purpose flour or gluten free flour
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1½ cups good red wine
500 g button mushrooms thickly sliced
4 cups low sodium beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon dried thyme
680 g potatoes halved or quartered into 3 cm pieces
4 medium carrots 280 g, peeled and cut into 1.5 cm thick pieces
¼ cup parsley finely chopped for garnish
In a 5 Qt dutch oven, saute chopped bacon over medium heat until browned and fat released. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a large plate.
While bacon cooks, season lamb pieces with ½ tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle with ¼ cup flour and toss to coat. Cook lamb in 2 batches in hot bacon grease over medium heat until browned (3 – 4 min per side) then transfer to the plate with bacon.
Add diced onion and sauté 2 min. Add garlic and cook another minute, stirring constantly. Add 1 ½ cups wine, scraping the bottom to deglaze. Add sliced mushrooms, bring to simmer then cook uncovered 10 min. Preheat Oven to 160˚C.
Return bacon and lamb to pot and add 4 cups broth, 1 Tablespoon tomato paste, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon dried thyme and 2 bay leaves. Stir in potatoes and carrots, making sure potatoes are mostly submerged in liquid. Bring to a boil then COVER and carefully transfer to preheated oven at 160˚C for 1 hr and 45 min. When done, potatoes and lamb will be very tender.
For reduced fat stew, spoon out any excess oil from the surface when it comes out of the oven.