Lamb Navarin

Lamb Navarin – Navarin d’agneau – is one of the great classic French stews (ragoûts). Lamb is slowly braised until meltingly soft in a rich sauce with potatoes and vegetables to soak up all that flavour. If you’ve never made a French stew before, this is a good one to start with as it is easier to make than Coq au Vin and Bourguignon.

Lamb Navarin

Lamb Navarin is the most well known lamb stew in France. I have clear memories of my young self learning how to cook it at culinary school, then making it for my parents at home.

Traditionally, it was cooked in spring using the first young vegetables of the season. Nowadays, it’s also cooked all year round, simply using seasonal vegetables instead. But one vegetable that is always expected to be in it is turnips. In fact, the name Navarin comes from the French word navet, meaning turnip.

So along with the lamb, they’re an important part of the dish, but if you can’t find them, swede (rutabaga) or even more potatoes are excellent substitutes.

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Ingredients

Here is what you need to make Lamb Navarin.

BEST LAMB FOR NAVARIN

Lamb shoulder is the best cut for this recipe. It’s a tougher cut that’s made for slow cooking, with plenty of marbling that keeps the meat really juicy as it cooks. I always use it for Navarin and other lamb stews and wouldn’t swap it for anything else. Luckily, it’s widely available these days.

Avoid buying pre-cut lamb pieces. They’re usually cut too small, so they’ll be ready before the sauce has had time to develop its full flavour. It’s much better to buy a whole piece of lamb shoulder and cut it yourself into large chunks! I also wouldn’t recommend using lamb leg or other lean cuts. They are not fatty enough and tend to dry out during the long, slow cook.

VEGETABLES FOR NAVARIN

These are the vegetables in this classic winter version of Navarin. However in France, this is made with seasonal vegetables year round. For example in spring, people use vegetables like asparagus, dutch carrots, fava beans, and baby turnips.

• Turnips – A root vegetable with crisp white flesh and a mildly peppery flavour when raw. As they slowly cook, they become beautifully tender, sweeter and much more mellow, soaking up all the flavours of the stew. Turnips are one of the classic ingredients for this recipe but if you can’t find them, swede (rutabaga) or even more potatoes are excellent substitutes.

• Baby potatoes / new potatoes – The waxy kind so they hold their shape during the slow cook. They’ll soak up the rich sauce without falling apart. Choose ones that are the same size if you can, so they cook through in the same time.

• Pearl onions, or pickling onions – Pearl onions are the tiny onions that are a classic ingredient in French stews, but it can be hard to put your hands on them here in Australia. Pickling onions are the ideal substitute which are widely available. They’re usually slightly larger, so just peel away an extra layer or two until they’re about 2.5 cm / 1 inch in diameter. Soak them in cold water for 10–15 minutes to soften the skins, this will help with the peeling.

  If you can’t find either, use 2 regular brown or yellow onions instead. Halve them, then cut each half into 1 cm / 2/5-inch wedges.

• Carrots – Everyday standard carrots will work here.

• Frozen Peas – Just regular frozen peas or baby peas. You don’t have to thaw or pre-cook. Frozen peas are cooked already, they just need to be heated.

AND EVERYTHING ELSE FOR NAVARIN

• Garlic – Base aromatic flavour. Small thing but goes a long way.

• Tomato paste – Adds body to the dish because of its concentration of flavour. Important ingredient to the sauce’s colour and balance.

• Plain flour (all purpose) – For thickening the sauce.

• White wine – You probably noticed by now, chardonnay is my favourite wine in the kitchen because of the flavours it add to dishes and it’s the one that I used the most during my restaurant days. We use it for deglazing here. There is no need to use an expensive wine, the flavour and aroma are largely lost during cooking. Substitute with low-sodium chicken stock for a non-alcoholic version.

• Chicken stock – The best choice of stock here. It adds savouriness to the sauce without masking the flavour of the lamb, and after the long, slow cook, it certainly doesn’t taste “chickeny”. If you have homemade chicken stock, even better, it’ll take the sauce to another level and make your Lamb Navarin restaurant-quality.

  I don’t recommend using powdered chicken stock, it wouldn’t do justice to a dish like this.

• Thyme and bay leaves – Classic herb aromatics that you’ll find in many French recipes.

• Salt – Used to season the lamb before browning and inside the stew. If you’ve only got table salt, halve the amount. For salt flakes, increase by 50%. 

• Black pepper – Cracked black pepper, the one we always use.

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How to make Lamb Navarin

Classic slow-cooked oven method is used here. First, the lamb is well browned to build flavour, then the sauce is started by cooking the vegetables before adding wine, stock and herbs. After an hour in the oven, the vegetables are added and the stew is returned to gently braise until everything is beautifully tender.

1. MAKING THE STEW

1. Pat the lamb dry and season with salt.

2. Sear the lamb – Heat the oil in a heavy-based, oven-proof pot over high heat (mine is 24cm / 9.5″). Add 1/3 lamb and brown it well until deeply coloured all over (about 3 minutes). Remove, then repeat with remaining lamb. There will brown bits on the bottom of the pot and that’s where much of the flavour for the sauce comes from.

   Once the lamb is browned, there’s no need to add any more oil. The lamb will have released plenty of its own fat, which is perfect for cooking the vegetables and building the flavour of the stew.

3. Onions – Turn the heat down to medium high and add the onions and cook until you get some nice golden patches, then set them aside in a separate bowl because these get added back into the stew partway through the slow cooking phase.

4. Carrot and garlic next – Add the carrots into the pot and stir for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and quickly cook for 20 seconds.

5. Add the tomato paste and stirring constantly, cook it for a minute. It removes the raw flavour, brings out its natural sweetness as well as adding its deep colour into the sauce.

6. Return the lamb to the pot with any juices collected on the tray. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute.

7. Pour the wine in then stir until the lamb is coated in a pale red, loose paste. At this point, the flour should be completely dissolved with no dry patches or lumps remaining before adding the stock.

8. Add the chicken stock, thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Stir well until everything is combined. Now let the oven take over, the hard work is over. 😊

2. SLOW COOKING

1. First slow cook – Bring everything to a simmer. Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven at 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan) for one hour. This gives the lamb a head start so it can begin to soften before adding the vegetables.

   I prefer using the oven for slow cooked stews because everything cooks evenly and there’s no need to stir. If you don’t have an oven, you can slow cook on very low heat on the stove and be prepared to stir regularly and very carefully so the vegetables and lamb doesn’t break.

2. Add vegetables – Stir in the potatoes, turnips and onion, pushing them into the sauce as best you can. Don’t worry if a few pieces are still peeking above the surface, they’ll cook perfectly once the lid is back on.

   This version uses sturdy vegetables that can handle the long braise. When this is made using delicate spring vegetables like asparagus and dutch carrots, they are cooked separately then stirred in towards the end as they are far too delicate to slow cook.

3. Slow cook part 2 – Cover and return the pot to the oven for another 1 1/2 hours. During this final braise, the lamb becomes beautifully fall-apart tender while the vegetables gently soften until they’re buttery and infused with all the flavours of the sauce.

4. Finish – Gently stir in frozen peas right at the end using a rubber spatula, then cover the pot for a couple of minutes so they warm through while keeping their bright colour. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt if needed before serving. Enjoy!

How to serve Lamb Navarin

Lamb Navarin is the kind of meal that makes everyone happy around the table. Rich, comforting and full of flavour, it’s a complete meal in itself but the truth is, it’s even better shared with a loaf of warm, crusty bread for mopping up the beautiful sauce. For me, it’s a must!

And if you want to make it even more substantial, serve it over steamed rice with a simple bistro salad. That’s how I sometimes enjoy it too. I am really curious to read your feedback if you happen to make it! Bon appétit! – JB

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Watch How To Make It

Life of Jaffle

Jaffle is still learning what goes on behind the scenes during our recipe shoots. Every new recipe is another chance to introduce him to the environment, the food we cook and all the excitement that comes with it. He was very curious about this Lamb Navarin and seemed quite impressed by the smell and he definitely wanted to know what was in the pot! Our future official taste tester is almost ready!