Lamb Cacciatore Recipe

Some people refer to this Italian-style lamb as peasant food. If so, the peasants eat like kings! As with traditional cacciatore, the lamb is flavored with sweet onion, garlic, mushrooms, and bell peppers. Serve over linguine or pasta of choice for a hearty meal. You will need a very large heavy, deep skillet with a lid (or a large Dutch oven) for this recipe. Recipe may be halved. You may also wish to try this with beef or pork.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 pounds boneless leg of lamb (or lamb stew meat), majority of the fat removed, cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (about)
• 1 cup dry red wine such as Chianti
• 1 cup tomato sauce, hopefully homemade
• 1 large sweet onion, cut into 1-inch wedges, then cut wedges in half
• 1 pound white mushrooms, brushed clean and cut into quarters
• 2 (6-inch) sprigs fresh rosemary or 1 Tablespoon dried rosemary
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch wide strips
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch wide strips
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 pound cooked linguine or other large pasta of choice
• Chopped parsley for garnish, optional

Preparation:

Combine garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle over lamb and toss to coat.

Heat a large, heavy, deep skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add olive oil and swirl to coat pan. Quickly brown the lamb in batches, taking care not to crowd the pan. Remove browned lamb to a bowl and add red wine to the hot pan. Cook 3 minutes, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom. Add tomato sauce to the red wine in the pan, swirling to combine.

Return browned lamb with any accumulated juices to the skillet. Add sweet onions, mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary. Gently toss to combine with the sauce. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let cacciatore simmer 1 to 1-1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes, until lamb is fork tender. Add bell peppers and cook an additional 15 minutes or until peppers are soft to your liking. (I prefer mine al dente.) Taste and add additional kosher salt and pepper as needed. If sauce is too thick, add a bit of the pasta water or plain hot water. Remove rosemary sprigs before serving.

Serve lamb cacciatore over linguine or other large pasta. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings