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Lamb Ragu – Sous Vide
Cooking
Serves: 6
Difficulty: Gourmet & Wonderful!
Sous vide temp: 140 degree F; Time: 48 hours
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| Lamb Ragu served over polenta – Sous Vide Cooking |
Some of the most impressive results of sous vide are created
with tough cuts of meat. Lamb shanks would certainly fit that description! Sous
vide allows you to cook these tough cuts to medium-rare and tender to
the point of falling off the bone. This is accomplished because cooking tougher
cuts with sous vide allows you to break down and tenderize the meat without
overcooking and drying it out. The amount of flavor in meat is determined to a
large extent upon the amount of work that muscle had to do, and so shanks are
very flavorful. Unfortunately muscles that do a lot of work also become tough,
so there is often a choice between tender meat with a light flavor (such as
tenderloin) and tough meat with lots of flavor (such as shanks).
With sous vide,
you can have the best of both worlds: tough cuts can be cooked at a temperature
that is just high enough to break down the toughness, but also low enough to
allow the meat to stay succulent. The meat will be fork tender, succulent, and
very flavorful. The only drawback of the low temperature is that it takes a
long time, sometimes from 24 and 72 hours. It is not a big problem because sous
vide cooking does not require any attention at all while it’s going on. So you
can start up the cooking process on Sunday afternoon and serve outstanding meal
on Tuesday night….easily as the shank is cooked with the sauce!
For a more complete description and instruction on sous vide
cooking, please see my post, All About Sous Vide at http://cookingwithlarue.blogspot.com/2015/06/all-about-sous-vide.html#more.
Ragu, a meat-based
sauce is actually a relatively new addition to Italian cuisine. Traditionally
the ragu is served with pasta, classically with pappardelle. However, I had a
hankering for polenta – wonderful creamy, rich polenta served with a spread of
lamb ragu on top. I know you will too! (See
link below for polenta recipe). A brief note on cooking with wine: while
avoiding expensive bottles, always use a wine you would be happy to drink.
- 4 bone-in lamb shanks
- 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice
- 2 C veal stock
- 2 C finely diced onion
- 1 C finely diced celery
- 1 C finely diced carrot
- 1 C red wine
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Garnish: chopped parsley, shredded Parmesan cheese, drizzle of
olive oil
Fill a pot sufficiently with hot water; heat further on the
stove until it approaches the desired sous vide temperature. In this case, you
will want to heat to 140 degree F.
In a large bowl,
combine: diced tomatoes, veal stock,
onion, celery, carrots, red wine, salt, coriander, cumin and black pepper.
Mix thoroughly. Portion the liquid into
4 Ziploc bags large enough to hold one shank
and ¼ of the mixture.
Add one sprig of rosemary
and thyme to each bag. It would
be difficult to use vacuum sealer given the quantity of sauce. Use ziploc bags,
and carefully lower the bag with shank and sauce into the heated water using
the water to displace the air surrounding the mixture. At this point, one can
carefully seal the Ziploc bag making certain it is completely closed and air is
removed. Or, one can secure the edge of the package and clip it to the side of
the sous vide bath/pot. Set the timer for 48 hours. Cover the water bath with
plastic wrap to minimize water evaporation. Add water intermittently to keep
the lamb submerged.
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| 48 hour sous vide |
When the timer goes off, remove the bags from the water
bath. Save the sauce and remove the shanks and let cool for at least 10
minutes. Remove the meat from the bone, and using two forks, roughly shred into
bite size pieces. It can be done ahead at this point served later in day or the
next day.
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| Lamb shanks after cooking |
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| Lamb - medium, moist and tender |
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| Cut into small strips.... |
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| ....and then shred with forks |
Let the cooking liquid cool for 10-20 minutes and skim off
any floating fat. When ready to serve, transfer to a large saucepan with the
shredded lamb. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes.
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| Simmer with the sauce |
Serve over polenta (see link below) or pasta. Garnish with a drizzle of olive
oil, minced parsley and shaved Parmesan cheese.
Don't make the mistake I made – you will want more, so double
the ingredients, make the ragu and freeze half for another time! Trust me, you will thank me later…again and
again.
Larue
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