Lockdown Lamb with Corona Beans

Ahh…COVID-19. For me this year like many others has been filled with different lockdowns, restrictions, zoom calls, e-aperos and comfort food. I was missing the beans that I used to get as a side dish at The Greek Deli in downtown DC (man, what I would do for a serving of their amazing Avgolemono) and I also wanted an excuse to buy a leg of lamb. This recipe is certainly not designed for one - but mostly for the leftovers as it freezes well. There is some prep work involved, but given that we are all inside and have the time - the result is lamb that falls off the bone and plump beans that are swimming in a tomato, red wine and rosemary infused gravy. If you don’t want to use dried beans, nessun problema! You will speed up the cooking time, but I do feel like the dried ones taste better. Tocca a te!

Prep time: one over night soak for the beans and marinating the lamb + 2-3 hours in the oven

Ingredients

• 2 cups of dried corona beans (cannellini or navy beans) or 3 cans of beans, rinsed

• one leg of lamb (around 1 kilo/2lbs) I have the butcher cut it into large bone-in slices

• olive oil/salt/pepper

• 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried

• 1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic crushed or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (personal preference, but I wouldn’t go past three cloves of garlic or its too much)

• 1 tablespoon of butter

• 1 cup chopped celery (around 3 stalks with some leaf)

• 1 cup of chopped carrot ( 2 large or 4 small ones)

• 1 cup of onion (one large onion or two medium ones)

• 1 laurel (bay) leaf

• 2 cups (one jar of 560 g) of strained tomatoes (I use Pomi or Mutti depending on which one was on sale)

• 1 cup of red wine (something I would actually drink, but not say, the Amarone di Valpolicella)

• 1 Kub Or bouillon cube(these are my favorite but OXO, Knorr or Maggi cubes are also great)

• 1 cup of water

Directions

Overnight Prep

Step 1: If using dried beans, soak them overnight in water. Use a large bowl and fill it 3/4 of the way up. The beans will soak it up and in the morning you may want to give the beans another rinse and add more water.

Step 2: Marinate the lamb. Generously salt and pepper the meat, then add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil, rosemary and the crushed garlic cloves. I usually put mine in a roasting pan that I will use the next day and cover.

Three hours to the meal (If you want this for lunch start at 9am and if you want it for dinner start cooking around 5pm!)

Preheat the oven to 160C/325 F

Step 1: Take the meat out of the fridge and let it sit for 10 minutes to come to room temperature. Sear the meat over medium high heat in a large pot or dutch oven. You don’t need to cook the meat all the way through, just sear it for the flavor. Two minutes on each side should be enough. Return the meat to the roasting pan with the garlic and rosemary. You can also sear the garlic and rosemary, just be careful not to burn it or it will make the whole thing a bit bitter.

Step 2: In the same pot, keep the juices and rendered fat from the seared lamb. Add one tablespoon of olive oil, butter, celery, onion and carrot. Sweat the vegetables out, and let them cook but not brown. Once they are soft after about 5-8 minutes, add the drained beans and cook for another five minutes. Add the wine to deglaze the pot. Then add the bay leaf, bouillon cube, strained tomato, and the water. Bring to a boil for about 5 min and then let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Nota bene: If you skip this step it will take an extra hour in the oven for the beans to cook.

Step 3: Take this mixture and pour over the lamb in the roasting pan. This may be quite liquid, but the beans will soak this up. Cover with foil and poke a few holes on top for the steam. Bake for 75 min if using Corona beans, as they take a bit longer. If using the smaller white beans, 55 minutes will do. If you want to reduce the liquid, you can always place back in the warm oven(that has been shut off) for about 20 minutes. But you want the gravy to have a bit of liquid to it, especially if you are planning leftovers.

Step 4: Enjoy! You can freeze this for up to a month in a tupperware, but thaw first. Best to reheat on the stove as microwaves do strange things to the texture of beans. This pairs really well with a Primitivo di Manduria or a Cesanese.