Lamb & Pork Ragu with Polenta

I love a slow cooked, hearty meal and lamb is probably my favourite protein so this dish and its many variations are something I return to often. Its so easy, literally just frying a sofrito base (onion, carrot, celery), adding your protein, deglazing the pan with alcohol/stock/water and allowing it to cook down till the protein is tender. You can make this dish super quickly for a weeknight meal using the InstantPot or cook it slowly in the oven on a weekend to fill the house with heavenly aromas that will have everyone clamouring for dinner.

Time: 3 hours (Instant Pot: 1 hour)

Serves: 4-6

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

Lamb & Pork Ragu

• 500g Lamb Pieces (Bone-in)

• 250g Pork Sausage

• 1 Onion (diced)

• 2 Carrots (peeled and diced)

• 1 Celery Stalk (diced)

• 3 Garlic cloves (crushed)

• 5 Sprigs Rosemary

• 5 Sprigs Thyme

• 2 Bay Leaves

• 75g Tomato Paste

• 1 Tin Chopped Tomato

• 125ml Red Wine

• 500ml Chicken Stock

• Salt & Pepper

• Olive Oil

Polenta

• 2 Cups Polenta

• 500ml Chicken Stock

• 350ml Full Cream Milk

• 100g Parmesan

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C if not using an InstantPot. With the InstantPot turn it on and set it to HIGH on the saute setting.

2. Season and brown the lamb in batches in your pot/InstantPot followed by the pork sausages which should be removed from the skin and broken up as much as possible while browning. Once finished browning turn the heat down to medium/turn the InstantPot to MED on the saute setting.

3. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery to the pot and fry for 2 minutes before adding the herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay leaf) and garlic. Fry slowly for 10 minutes to allow the vegetables to start to caramelise and develop real flavour.

4. Re-add the meat to the pot and put the tomato paste in as well. Stir well so the paste is coating as much as possible in the pot and fry for 1 minute before deglazing the pan with wine. Simmer for 2 minutes then add the tinned tomatoes and the stock.

5. InstantPot: Seal the pot and set it on High Pressure for 40 Minutes. Oven: Place the pot in the oven for 2h30.

6. The ragu is ready when the lamb is soft and falling off the bone. Season it to your liking.

7. Polenta: Add the milk and stock to a pot and once simmering add the polenta and stir every 5 minutes for ±35 minutes until cooked. Add more liquid (Stock/milk) if its looking too dry. Once ready stir in the parmesan. This should be done while the ragu is cooking so when both are finished you can serve them together.

Happy Cooking!

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