Lamb Bolognese Sauce with Peas & Mint
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner, Entree, Sauce, Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
This lamb ragù is delicious over homemade pasta (recipe follows), potato gnocchi, polenta. The recipe yields enough sauce for about 6 portions of pasta. Leftover sauce can be frozen.
Ingredients
  • 1# Ground Lamb
  • 1½ c. Dry White Wine, divided
  • 1 lg. Shallot, finely diced
  • 1 rib of Celery, finely diced
  • 1 Carrot, finely diced
  • 1 clove Garlic, minced
  • 2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
  • 1 c. Milk (preferably whole milk), hot
  • 2 c. Beef or Chicken Stock (homemade or low-sodium), hot
  • Freshly Grated Nutmeg
  • 2 stems Fresh Thyme
  • 1 c. Peas (thawed if using frozen)
  • ½ c. Fresh Mint, thinly sliced, divided
  • Pecorino Cheese (Italian aged sheep’s milk cheese)
Instructions
  1. Place the ground lamb in a medium bowl and pour about ½ c. of the wine over it. Use your fingers to break up the meat.
  2. In a heavy-bottomed, lidded pot or Dutch oven, heat about 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. Sauté the shallot, celery, and carrot until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Season with salt. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute until lightly golden. Add the lamb and season. Brown the meat and let the liquid cook off, lowering the heat as the pan becomes drier, about 10 minutes. Clear a spot on the bottom of the pan and drop in the tomato paste. Allow the tomato paste to darken slightly, then stir into the meat mixture.
  3. Add the remaining wine and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Add the hot milk, grate a little nutmeg over the pot, add the thyme. Simmer. When most of the milk has been absorbed into the meat (this should take about 45 minutes), add about half of the hot stock. Simmer (45-minutes-1 hour) and when most of the liquid has been absorbed, add the remaining stock. Continue to simmer (another 45 minutes-1 hour) until the sauce is thick and viscous.
  4. Remove the thyme stems and add the peas during the final few minutes of simmering. Check the seasoning and add salt if needed and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat and stir in half of the mint. Reserve the remaining mint to garnish your finished dish. If serving with pasta, boil the pasta and add it directly to the sauce. Grate Pecorino over the top of each dish and serve immediately.
Recipe by strawberryplum at http://www.strawberryplum.com/lamb-bolognese-sauce-with-peas-mint/