Lamb stewed in wine and honey

Savoury Dish Recipe

Jul 4, 2017

Lamb stewed in wine and honey, a sweet satisfying stew

This is a great stew for using up leftover red wine. You know leftover wine? A bottle was opened sometime ago, not finished and now you just don’t fancy drinking it? If you find you have some leftover red wine simply sweeten it with some honey and use it to tenderise and flavour some stewing meat.

I love stews. They are such an easy meal to put together and they are so satisfying. Especially when the weather’s turned cold. And a little wine, with some herbs and spices, adds a lovely depth of flavour.

If the thought of cooking with wine appeals to you, I found this great post on that very topic. And it’s got some links to recipes too.

You can play around with this one, it’s a very forgiving recipe. Meaning, so long as you include the lamb, red wine and honey, you can easily substitute different ingredients for all the rest of the additions. So play around with this stew. Try adding different herbs, spices and vegetables. Or just go with whatever you have to hand. It all seems to work.

Lamb stewed in wine and honey - also good for winter meal preps

Ingredients-for-Lamb stewed in wine and honey — Stewing lamb, onions, tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, celery, mushrooms, ginger, rosemary, thyme, garlic, stock, red wine, honey, tomato puree, salt & black pepper

Lamb stewed in Red Wine and Honey

Yield: 4 - 6

Suitable for: Gluten-free diet

Ingredients:

~500g lamb for stewing
2 onions, quartered
1″ ginger root, peeled & sliced
sprigs of rosemary & thyme
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & chopped roughly
~250ml red wine
2 tbsp runny honey
~250ml vegetable stock
1 heaped tbsp gluten-free white flour
10g butter, optional
2-3 carrots, sliced
2-3 celery sticks, sliced
2 parsnips, sliced
2-3 large tomatoes, quartered
~200g button mushrooms halved or quartered.
sunflower, vegetable or olive oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Marinate the lamb in wine & honey overnight
Put the lamb in a container with the onions, ginger, herbs and garlic. Pour over the wine and gently mix around to make sure everything is covered. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight to marinate.
Brown the meat etc on the stovetop
Turn the oven on to a moderate heat, ~160C. Heat some oil in a casserole, or some dish you can use on the cooker top and then transfer to the oven. With a slotted spoon, remove the lamb from the marinade and sear them in the hot oil, till they are browned. Reduce the heat to a gentle moderate and add in the sliced carrots, parsnips, and celery, together with the onions from the marinade. Stir around well, then cover the pan and let them brown a little for a couple of minutes. Next, stir in the gluten-free flour. Stir it around for a couple of minutes so that it is well cooked but don't let it burn. Increase the heat to moderate and pour in the liquid from the marinade and the runny honey. Stir around well for a minute or so. Next, stir in the tomatoes and the mushrooms. Add in the rest of the contents of the marinade and pour over the vegetable stock and stir around well. Increase the heat to high and let it come to the boil.
Stew in the oven
Once the liquid in the pot starts bubbling away, give it all one more good stir. Stir in the butter now, if using, - it’s just for the taste. Then cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and let stew in the oven for 2 hours.
When ready, take out from the oven. Taste and season with salt & pepper. Sometimes the colour of the red wine can give the stew a mauveish or greyish-purple sort of colour. If this happens, just stir in a teaspoon or two of tomato puree.
Serve with mashed potato or rice or gluten-free pasta.