Tomato Lamb Stew

This was my first time at making a tomato based lamb stew.  My usual version is a mushroom-and-potato white medley, but for some funny reason, I've been thinking of a red flooded version for the past few days.  

Since this was my first attempt, my expectations were low.  I did some random search on the net for ideas as I didnt really want to do a run-of-the-mill thing, but nothing jumped out.  So I improvised here and there.  

 

How did it turn out?  

B-I-U-T-I-F-U-L! 

I don't mean to come across as blowing my own trumpet, but this is seriously GUUUD.  The meat was falling off the bone, the gravy was bursting with flavour and most importantly, had "body", and there is a layer of scarlet red oil on top. Yay!

I tried to figure out what was it that made it so yummy. Could it be the marmite that I added? I got that idea after reading an article about an interview with Lisa Faulkner (one of the Celebrity Chefs winner in the UK) who said she loves to add marmite in her stews and sauces to give more depth of flavour. So maybe it was marmite magic? Or could it be that I sauteed the onions and slightly charred the sausages? Heck, maybe it was just good ol beef stock that did the work.


Oh well, whatever it was, I was mighty happy with the results.  I hope you give this a try and let me know if you liked love it as much as I did :) 

Cook this in a pressure cooker, and you will have
melt-in-your-mouth tender lamb cuts

Hungry?

Tomato Lamb Stew

• 1 kg lamb shoulder cuts, trimmed off the fat and cut into chunks
• 430g can  (equivalent to 2 cups) of tomato puree (I used Kimball)
• 300g sausages (I used Ayamas premium sausages), sliced
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 5 small ripe tomatoes (not baby/cherry tomatoes), quartered
• 3 pips garlic, chopped
• 2 medium size red onions, cut into chunks
• 1/2 tsp heap of marmite, melted in 1 tablespn of water
• 1 cube of beef stock (I use Knorr)
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme, about 3-4 inches in length each
• 1 tsp salt 
• Dash of sugar and loads of freshly cracked black pepper

1. Par boil the lamb to get rid of the scum and blood.  Rinse in cold water and set aside. 

2. Heat 1 tblspn of oil and fry the garlic and onion until fragrant and golden. Add in the sausages and fry on high heat, slightly charring the round edges of the sausages.  By this time, the onion would have started to caramelize. Remove from fire and set aside. 

3. Drain out any excess bloody liquid from the lamb and put into the pressure cooker.  Add in the sausages mix, carrots, tomatoes, seasonings and thyme.  

4. Pour in the tomato puree and add in 1 and 1/2 cup of water.  

5. Stir to coat everything evenly.  Cover and set the timer to Braise or 25minutes.  

6. Once the time is up, let the cooker sit on natural release for 2-3 hours.  Serve warm with white rice, plain pasta or crusty bread.  Bon apetit! 

I served this to my little guy...

He polished it all off.  He is my son after all :)

And the man of the house not only finished his big serving of rice 
but walloped three more slices of bread to mop up the gravy