LAMB BRAISED WITH SAFFRON
IN THE SARDINIAN STYLE
I don’t know where I first heard of this dish,
but I was in a Sardinian frame of mind
and I had lamb, I had saffron, and I had
potatoes. It tastes kind of like a goulash
of the Mediterranean.
Serves 6
2–3 tablespoons olive oil
1kg diced lamb shoulder
2 large onions, peeled and cut into rough
3cm cubes
5 garlic cloves, crushed
Good handful of flat-leaf (Italian)
parsley, chopped
200ml passata (puréed tomatoes), or use
tinned tomatoes and purée
Generous pinch of saffron threads, ideally
soaked overnight in 1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons dried Greek oregano, or
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
if leaves are big
500g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut
into chunks
Steamed greens, to serve
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large,
heavy-based saucepan over a cracking
heat, add about half the meat and brown
it well. Remove with a slotted spoon and
repeat with the remaining meat. Remove
that too, reduce the heat to about medium
and fry the onion well until just starting to
brown, drizzling in more oil if needed and
stirring regularly as it cooks. - Add the garlic and parsley and fry for 2
more minutes. Add the meat back to the pan
with the passata, saffron, 2 cups water and
oregano. Bring back to a simmer, scraping
off any yummy brown bits from the bottom
of the pan with a wooden spoon. - Add salt and pepper to taste. Put a lid
on and leave to simmer for about 1 hour
on a very low heat. (You could do this bit
in a 150°C/300°F oven, if you like.) - After an hour, add the potatoes, pushing
them down into the sauce, and cook,
covered, until both the potato and lamb
are tender. The lamb will probably need
another 30 minutes or so at least, but it
does depend a lot on the age and breed
of the lamb. Taste for salt and pepper
and serve with steamed greens. PHOTOS: ALAN BENSON