Braised Lamb Chops with Butter Beans, Smoked Bacon & Garlic Sausage

Hey lovely people, I hope you’re all having an amazing day. On the menu today I have such a wonderful, soul warming dish for the entire family and I just know they will love it! This amazing rustic dish is from the southwest of France, home of the famous cassoulet!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients: serves 6

6 lamb forequarter chops (or the neck fillet works too) 1 tablespoon sea salt 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper 25g unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 5 ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters then halved 4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced 1 bouquet Garni (6 fresh parsley sprigs, 2 drier bay leaves, 6 fresh thyme sprigs, 1 fresh rosemary sprig. Tie all together with kitchen string) 750ml water 450g Butter beans, soaked rinsed and drained 100g smoked streaky bacon, rind removed and cut into 4cm pieces 200g garlic sausages, skinned and roughly chopped (by them from your local butcher for best flavour) Chopped fresh parsley to garnish

Method:

Season the lamb with the salt and pepper on both sides. Over a medium/high heat in a large frying pan add the butter and olive oil. The butter will foam quickly, after it has add the lamb in batches of 3 and sear well, you’re after a deep golden brown colour. Transfer the lamb to a warm dish to rest but leave all the juices in the pan.

To the juices in the pan, add the water. Using a soft spatula deglaze the pan by scraping all the nuggets of flavour left over from the lamb. Bring to a simmer and add the lamb back to the pan. Add the tomatoes, garlic, bouquet Garni and a pinch of salt & pepper to season. Cover the pan and simmer for 1 hour. After one hour, add the butter beans, bacon and sausage. Cook for a further hour and serve with fresh parsley.

A dish that can be served family style at the table, or like I have in a slightly more refined way. Which ever way, I hope you enjoy it!

Rob