Bone-In Lamb Stew with Seasonal Sautéed Vegetables, and Chèvre-Herb Topping
A deeply nourishing stew of bone-in lamb shanks and shoulder, braised low and slow with garlic, rosemary, carrots, rutabaga, and parsnips until the meat falls off the bone and the broth turns rich with gelatin. It's finished with rosy slices of seared lamb loin, a side of seasonal sautéed vegetables, and a bright topping of goat chèvre, parsley, cilantro, and lemon.
Yield: Serves 6 · Active: 45 min · Total: 3½–4 hours (mostly hands-off braising) · Best in North America from fall through early spring, braising season (with a lighter vegetable option for warmer months) · Best eaten: early evening, for a Sunday supper or gathering
Why bone-in cuts: As shanks and shoulder braise, their bones, cartilage, and connective tissue melt into the broth as gelatin, bringing glycine, proline, and minerals. It's the original bone broth, built right into the stew.
Ingredients
Lamb stew
2 grass-fed lamb shanks (about 1 lb each)
2 lb bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into large chunks (ask your butcher to cut it)
2 tsp Baja Gold sea salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
2 tbsp tallow or ghee
1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, cut into chunks
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks (added in the last hour)
6 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine (or 1 more cup broth plus 1 tbsp lemon juice)
4 cups lamb or beef bone broth
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, 4 sprigs thyme, and 2 bay leaves
Zest of 1 lemon
Seared lamb loin
1 lb boneless lamb loin
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt and ¼ tsp black pepper
1 tbsp ghee
Chèvre-herb topping
4 oz fresh goat chèvre, crumbled
½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely minced
Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tbsp juice
1 small garlic clove, grated
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt and cracked black pepper
Seasonal Sautéed Vegetables (choose one)
Fall and winter: Sauté 1 bunch rainbow chard (stems sliced, leaves torn) and 1 sliced fennel bulb in 2 tbsp olive oil with 2 sliced garlic cloves, 6–8 minutes, until tender. Finish with lemon.
Spring: Sauté 1 bunch asparagus and 1 cup peas or sugar snap peas in 1 tbsp butter with sliced spring onions, 3–4 minutes, until bright green. Finish with fresh mint.
Summer: Sauté 2 zucchini (cut into half-moons) and 2 cups green beans in 2 tbsp olive oil with garlic, 5–6 minutes, until tender-crisp. Finish with fresh basil and lemon.
Method
Season the lamb. Pat the shanks and shoulder dry and season generously with salt and pepper (ideally the night before, refrigerated uncovered).
Sear. Heat the tallow in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and sear the lamb in batches until deeply browned on all sides, 8–10 minutes per batch. Move it to a plate.
Build the base. Lower the heat to medium. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and rutabaga and cook 6–8 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste and cook 1–2 minutes, until it darkens.
Deglaze. Pour in the wine, scraping up the browned bits, and simmer until reduced by half.
Braise. Add the broth, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and lemon zest, then nestle the lamb back in. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and braise in a 325°F oven for 3–3½ hours, until the meat falls off the bone. About 1 hour before it's done, tuck the parsnips into the broth around the lamb, so they turn tender but still hold their shape.
Finish the stew. Lift out the bones (the meat will slip right off), discard the herb stems and bay leaves, and shred the meat into large pieces. Skim the fat from the broth, then simmer it uncovered 10–15 minutes to thicken slightly. Mash a few pieces of rutabaga against the side of the pot to thicken it naturally, with no flour needed. Return the meat and season to taste.
Make the chèvre-herb topping. Gently stir everything together, keeping the chèvre in soft crumbles.
Sear the loin. About 15 minutes before serving, pat the loin dry, season it, and sear in hot ghee over medium-high heat 3–4 minutes per side, until it reads 130°F for medium-rare. Rest 5 minutes, then slice thinly.
Make your seasonal vegetables.
Serve. Ladle the stew into warm, shallow bowls, fan slices of lamb loin on top, and spoon over the chèvre-herb topping. Serve the sautéed vegetables alongside.
Storage: The stew is even better the next day. Refrigerate it up to 4 days (the fat will solidify on top for easy removal), or freeze up to 3 months. The loin is best seared fresh; the chèvre topping keeps up to 3 days.
Nourishment Notes: Grass-fed lamb brings heme iron, B12, zinc, selenium, and CLA. Bone-in shanks and shoulder release gelatin, glycine, proline, and minerals into the broth as they braise. Rutabaga brings vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and glucosinolates (it's a cross between a cabbage and a turnip). Parsnips offer fiber, folate, and potassium, with a natural sweetness that deepens after frost. Carrots bring beta-carotene. Goat chèvre offers calcium, protein, and mostly A2-type casein. Parsley and cilantro bring vitamin K, vitamin C, and chlorophyll. Rosemary and thyme offer rosmarinic acid and thymol. Seasonal vegetables add fiber, folate, and minerals.
For your cycle: This mineral-rich, gelatin-rich stew is deeply restorative during the menstrual phase, with lamb's heme iron, zinc, and B12 helping replenish what's lost, and its warming, slow-cooked comfort suits the luteal phase too.
Sourcing
Lamb shanks, shoulder, and loin — 100% grass-fed, from a local farm, White Oak Pastures, or US Wellness Meats; ask your butcher to cut the bone-in shoulder into chunks
Goat chèvre — a fresh farmstead goat cheese from a local dairy, organic when you can find it
Onion, carrots, celery, rutabaga, parsnips, garlic, and herbs — organic, from a farmers' market
Seasonal vegetables — organic, from a farmers' market
Dry white wine — organic and dry, low in added sulfites
Bone broth — homemade from grass-fed lamb or beef bones, or Bonafide Provisions (organic, sold frozen)
Tomato paste — organic, in glass, with no added sugar (Bionaturae and Jovial both make it)
Tallow and ghee — tallow rendered from grass-fed suet; Ancient Organics ghee
Lemons — organic (you're using the zest)
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall