"Lamb Fricasée is the ultimate in comfort food. Melt-in-your-mouth, braised lamb; aromatic greens; and a frothy-zingy egg-lemon wash - it has so much goodness going on. Perfect to warm up your winter or when you need a little comfort and TLC in your life!"
Lamb Fricassée
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Prep time: 35mins
Cook time: 2hrs
Serves or Makes: 7
Recipe Card
ingredients
- 125 gram butter
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 kilogram lamb leg (with bone), cut into 8 pieces
- 3 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 1 small bunch parsley
- 1 small bunch dill
- 1 1/2 litre boiled water
- 2 1/2 bunches endives
- 3 eggs
- 3 lemons, juiced
Method
Preparing the Lamb Fricassée
Step 1
Wash and dry the lamb pieces (optional)
Step 2
Melt the butter with the EVOO in a large, heavy-based pot on medium to high heat
Step 3
Finely chop the onions; add them to the pot and sautée them until they are translucent
Step 4
Add the garlic and sautée briefly
Step 5
Place the lamb pieces in a single layer in the pot and brown them on one side before turning them over to brown on the other side
Step 6
Season with salt and pepper
Step 7
Add the parsley and dill that has been prepared by discarding the coarse stalks at the base of the bunches (but keeping the remainder of the stalks), washing them thoroughly and chopping them finely
Step 8
Gently mix through the herbs
Step 9
Add the boiled water to the pot and gently mix the ingredients
Step 10
Bring the pot to a boil and then immediately reduce it to a simmer
Step 11
Place an unvented lid on the pot and continue to simmer for 1.5 hours
Step 12
Occasionally check on the pot and make sure the meat is covered by the stock. If it isn’t, add more boiled water to cover the meat
Preparing and adding the endives
Step 1
While the pot is simmering, sort and prepare the endives by cutting and discarding the bases of the endive bunches; removing and discarding any spoiled shoots; and washing the good shoots in a water bath three times or until the water runs clean
Step 2
When the lamb fricassée has been simmering for 1.5 hours, add the endives, gently pushing them in so that they are immersed in the stock
Step 3
Cook them for 10 minutes or until they have just softened, but still have a little body
Step 4
Check the endives occasionally and push them into the stock during this time
Preparing and adding the egg-lemon wash (avgolemono)
Step 1
While the endives are cooking in the pot, prepare the egg-lemon wash
Step 2
Separate the egg yolks from the whites
Step 3
Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks (approximately 5 minutes)
Step 4
Gently fold in the egg yolks
Step 5
Gently mix in the lemon juice and warm stock (150ml warm stock from the pot) to create the egg-lemon wash
Step 6
Slowly add the egg-lemon wash into the pot of lamb fricassée and very gently mix it through, being careful not to break the lamb apart
Serving the Lamb Fricassée
Step 1
Ladle some lamb, endives and stock into shallow soup dishes
Step 2
Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
Key Points
Step 1
You can use lamb or veal shanks in place of the lamb leg pieces
Step 2
You can use any greens you like for this dish – silverbeet, English spinach, cos lettuce or kale. It’s important not to overcook the greens and turn them into mush or disintegrated nothingness. Know your greens and how little or how much cooking they need to give a good mouth-feel and not be under or overcooked
Step 3
If you prefer, you can add the parsley and dill when you add the greens. The herbs will add a brighter, fresher flavour to the dish if they are cooked for less time
Step 4
It is very important for the stock to cool sufficiently before you add it to the egg-lemon wash. If it’s too hot, it will scramble the eggs when you add it