Lamb is a fatty type of meat that is very popular in the Caucasus. In the CIS countries, stew or roast lamb is rarely cooked, because it has a specific taste and aroma. Today we offer you to learn how to cook this tasty, but rather capricious meat. The best cooking lamb stew with vegetables recipes and tips are collected in our article!
Selection and preparation of lamb for stewing
If you decide to cook lamb stew with vegetables, then go responsibly to the choice of meat:
- Light meat on which there is almost transparent fat is the best choice of the hostess.
- Dark meat is old; it has a more dense structure, white-yellow fatty layers. Even after prolonged stewing, such lamb retains its rigidity.
- Do not take frozen meat, when pressed on which there is a large amount of blood and water.
- White fat indicates that the meat was obtained as a result of slaughtering young sheep, yellow – old. The latter exudes a very unpleasant smell.
Tasty lamb stew is obtained from the scapula and brisket; you can also use the loin.
Pickling
Having bought meat, proceed to its preparation, removing excess fat, films, bones. Quenching meat is presoaked using the following marinades:
- clean water with a little vinegar;
- clean water and spices, mainly hops-suneli, a mixture of Italian herbs, black pepper peas;
- olive oil and red wine;
- the salt solution (1 tsp. salt per 1 liter of water);
- pure milk, with which meat is poured, and then kept for 2 hours;
- yogurt, in which you need to add 1 chopped clove of garlic.
Old lamb emits a very sharp flavor, but the meat of young sheep undergoing heat treatment does not smell very appetizing. Soaking will eliminate the smell; soften the fibers, thereby accelerating the process of extinguishing.
Time for preparing
Lamb stew with vegetables is cooked for a long time, if it is cut into small pieces, then the average heat treatment time is at least 1 hour. If you cook broth or pilaf, you will have to stew the meat for 3-3.5 hours, depending on the degree of its freshness.
The recipe for cooking lamb stew with vegetables
Such a dish we will cook in a cauldron using the following ingredients:
- 1 kg of mutton, pre-soaked in any of the marinades listed above;
- on 3 pieces Bulgarian pepper, potatoes, tomatoes and onions, small carrots, eggplants;
- black pepper, rosemary, coriander, paprika;
- salt can be added to the dish basil, dill or parsley.
We now turn to the cooking process, cutting the lamb into small pieces. It needs to be transferred to the cauldron, which can be successfully replaced with a gooseneck with thick walls and a bottom. Fat meat should be lightly fried, so that it runs the juice, after which it is worth quickly adding 2 pcs to the cauldron chopped an onion and 2 cloves of garlic, spices, a glass of water. Meat with onions must be stewed for 1 hour, preparing a kind of zirvak. After this period, proceed as follows:
- remove onions from the stock using a skimmer;
- add chopped carrots, potatoes, and peppers, eggplants to the zirvak;
- after 10 minutes, send to the cauldron another ½ part of the chopped onion, tomatoes;
- cook the dish until vegetables are ready.
Sprinkle greens or cilantro with a ready-made lamb stew with vegetables; serve the dish hot, cold lamb does not have good taste characteristics.
Tip! Remember that mutton dishes should not be washed down with cold drinks. Serve them with tea, coffee mulled wine, which dissolves fat well.
How to cook lamb stew in the oven? Detailed recipe with photos
Mutton stew in the oven can be cooked either in a saucepan or in the sleeve, the latter method will create a juicy dish that has a very pleasant aroma. For this recipe, prepare the following ingredients:
- 200 g of tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, bell peppers, leeks, eggplants;
- 1 kg of mutton;
- seasoning, you can use the same as in the recipe for the cauldron;
- salt, garlic, olive oil.
Vegetables must be cleaned by removing seeds and other inedible parts, cut into cubes and slices medium-sized, salt, add spices. Mutton, pre-soaked and cleaned of films, also should be divided into portioned pieces. Now mix the butter, chopped 2 cloves of garlic and salt, rub the meat sauce. After that, the components need to put in the sleeve:
- put the vegetables, sprinkle them with a mixture of spices;
- layout portions of meat, pouring the remains of the marinade into the sleeve;
- send the sleeve on the pan to the oven for 1-1.5 hours, the cooking time depends on the thickness and number of pieces.
Serve the cooked dish hot, sprinkle it with a mixture of fresh herbs and cheese, to which garlic has been added. You can cook a similar dish in a deep pan, but in this case, the meat is cut into small pieces. Enjoy your meal!