RECIPE: Lamb and green bean stew by Julia Busuttil Nishimura

Julia Busuttil Nishimura is a Melbourne-based cook, author and teacher, and the creator of Ostro – a beloved online space where she shares her food, photographs and stories. Julia teaches sell-out cooking workshops and pasta master classes and is a regular contributor to publications, such as Country Style Magazine, The Design Files and ABC Life. Her first book, Ostro, was short-listed for the 2018 ABIA ‘Illustrated Book of the Year’ and named in Gourmet Traveller’s ‘Best Food Books for 2017’. Julia lives in Melbourne with her husband, Nori, and two children.

Julia’s latest cookbook is called A Year of Simple Family Food and today we’re featuring one of its recipes: an absolutely delicious lamb and green bean stew. Read on …

Lamb and Green Bean Stew

Serves: 4-6

My good friend Jessilla, who also happened to be my flatmate during my university days, would always tear out recipes from the weekend newspaper lift-outs and stick them to our fridge if she thought them worthy of being cooked in our Carlton share house. I always appreciated how analogue this was and can still remember one of the recipes that made it on there. It was a lamb and green bean stew made with flat beans. Here is my version. I have successfully made this with lamb chops, too. Be sure the meat you buy isn’t too lean as some fat is essential to keep it tender.

Ingredients

1 kg boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 3 cm pieces

sea salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

2 onions, roughly chopped

125 ml (½ cup) dry white wine

400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes

500 g green beans, trimmed

large handful of dill fronds, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve

large handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped

plain full-fat yoghurt, to serve

Method

Season the lamb generously with salt.

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based saucepan or cast-iron pot with a lid over a medium–high heat. Sear the lamb on all sides until golden, cooking in batches if necessary. Remove from the pan and set aside. Reduce the heat to low–medium and cook the onion for about 10 minutes until soft and just beginning to colour. Pour in the white wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the lamb to the pan along with the tomatoes and 1 tomato can (400 ml) of water. Cover with a lid and cook for around 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is tender.

Add the beans and cook, uncovered, for another 30 minutes. Stir through the herbs, check for seasoning and serve with a large spoonful of plain yoghurt, some extra dill and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

—A Year of Simple Family Food by Julia Busuttil Nishimura (Pan Macmillan Australia) is out now.

A Year of Simple Family Food

by Julia Busuttil Nishimura

Eating simply and seasonally is at the core of Julia Busuttil Nishimura's recipes. Whether it's a cooling coffee granita to start a summer's day or the comfort of a hearty baked maccheroni in darkest winter, this is the kind of food you will want to share with your loved ones throughout the year.

The dishes in this book are brought to life by great ingredients. There are plenty of quick recipes and some that require more time to bubble away on the stove...

Order NowRead More

No comments Share:

About the Contributor

Booktopia Guest Blogger