Lamb Ragu

Ragu in Italian simply means "meat sauce."  I think I'm on a new mission to see how many different ragus I can create.  Parker and I have been loving lamb lately.  Its a little expensive though so this is actually a way to get more bang for your buck.  Because it is done in the slow cooker, you can use cheaper cuts of lamb (as opposed to the oh-so-delicious lamb chops or rack of lamb).  Serve it with a nice glass of red wine.  Enjoy!

Lamb Ragu
(Serves 4-6)

3.5 lbs lamb stew meat
2 Tbls butter
1/2 large vidalia onion, diced
1 small package mushrooms, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbls tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped, pitted kalamata olives
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 vine-ripened tomatoes (or 1 15-oz can regular diced tomatoes)
1 cup dry red wine
Parmiggiano reggiano rind (*See note)
EVOO
Salt and pepper
Grated pecorino romano

Turn on slow cooker to high temperature.  Trim meat of fat and season with salt and pepper.  In a large frying pan, heat about 1 Tbls EVOO over medium-high heat.  Sear meat until brown on all sides.  Put meat in warm slow cooker.  Return pan to heat and add butter.  Melt and then add onions, mushrooms and garlic to saute.  Add tomato paste and stir to incorporate.  Saute until veggies are slightly soft but not all the way soft.  Transfer to slow cooker. 

For tomatoes, blanch in boiling water about a minute to loosen the skin.  Peel off skin and discard.  Cut into quarters and discard seeds.  Dice into small pieces and add to slow cooker.  (I would normally use canned to save time but I had fresh ones that were about to go bad.  If using canned ones, drain the liquid out so your sauce isn't too runny.)

Add olives, rosemary sprigs, cheese rind and wine to slow cooker.  Rosemary leaves will fall off and season sauce as is.  No need for chopping!  Cook on high about 3 hours, until meat is fork tender.  At that point, remove meat from slow cooker and set on a cutting board to cool.  When it is cool enough to handle, shred the meat.  You can use 2 forks but I prefer just using my hands.  That way, if there are any fatty pieces left, you can feel them and discard otherwise undesireable pieces.  Once meat is all shredded, add it back to the slow cooker and stir to incorporate.  Remove rosemary sprigs and rind and discard.  If all the leaves haven't fallen off, feel free to peel them off the tough stalk and keep them in the sauce.  However, its probably not necessary for flavor.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve hot over pasta with grated pecorino romano cheese.

(*I always keep the rinds of my blocks of parmiggiano reggiano in the freezer.  You can add them to soups and sauces to add flavor, then discard.  If you don't have one, don't worry about it.  The sauce will still be delicious!)

Sauce is GF as is, just serve it over GF pasta.  For casein-free, substitute olive oil for butter and serve with cheese.