lamb stew with heirloom squash, cannelini beans and sweet potato gnocchi

i love a good steak. a nice dry aged rib eye. thats just one of the paths to my heart; i'd say number three on my fav all time eats!


roasted leg of lamb....number 2.
(goat cheese....definite number 1).


i was very happy to see trader joes carries a premarinated, boneless, butterflied leg of lamb. sweet sweet baa...normally i would much prefer to do the work myself but this was momentarily too hard to pass.

that night i threw it in the oven along with some red potaoes tossed with rosemary, olive oil and sea salt... steamed some heirloom squash and there you have it.

as soon as my aromatic and crazy tender lamb was done little foodie jr. slapped me in the face with some business about being tired so off to bed and no lamb for me.

next day i turned that lamb into a much better and comforting meal..so easy it beat the little foodie jr.s demands and even he ate like a champion.

this is a real comfort meal...its full, smells amazing, and has tons of flavors...not to mention tons of room for play so you can experiment with different veggies, etc.

enjoy!

lamb stew with heirloom squash, cannelini beans and sweet potato gnocchi


1 pckg trader joes premarinated, butterflied leg of lamb, diced

handful of flour

onion small diced

1 pckg heirloom squash from trader joes* (miniature patty pan and zucchini squash)

1 large can organic diced tomatoes

couple splashes trader joes pomegranite glaze* (in a bottle similar to vinegars..yum!)

1 can cannelini beans or white kidney beans

couple tbl of garlic

fresh rosemary, chopped about 1 sprig

chicken or beef stock

s&p

since my roast was leftover from the previous night i just tossed it with a bit of flour and warmed it up with a little olive oil in the dutch oven. i would do the same raw but let it brown up. when brown remove.

throw in the onion and cook until soft...add garlic and a couple splashes of the pomegranite glaze...deglaze the pot and scrape up the tasty brown bits leftover from the lamb. throw in the squash and heat up...add everything else..add just enough stock to cover.

at this point i threw it into my crockpot which was a great idea cause it was falling apart and insanely good by nighttime. a good 5 hrs on low was perfect..

note:
you could use any squash...zucchini, summer, etc. this is what i had and seems a great paring in this type of stew..but use what you have it'll still be tasty.

the pomegranite glaze was something i was eager to try out...if its not what you want or have on hand some deep red wine or even a small dash of balsamic vinegar would work...you want something with depth of flavor and also to deglaze that pot and mix with the browned lamb bits.

sweet potato gnocchi

3 small sized sweet potatoes...baked or cooked in microwave until soft

1 tub fresh ricotta cheese, drained in sieve 2 hours to remove excess liquid*

1 cup parmesan cheese

2 tbl organic natural brown sugar

2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt (whatever you have)

1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg (fresh grated is sooo good)

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour


mash sweet potato meat in a large bowl.

add ricotta cheese and mix...add parmesan , brown sugar, salt, and nutmeg

mix in flour, about 1/4-1/2 cup at a time until it forms together into a very soft type dough.

divide the down up in 6 equal sizes and shape them into long ropes..enough to make it in around.

cut each rope into roughly 20 pieces...small bite sized.

roll each piece over tines of fork to indent.

transfer to a silpat or wax lined baking sheet.

boil pot of water and add about a tbl of salt.

in batches toss the gnocchi into the pot. you don't need to time them...when they float to the top they are done...scoop them out and lay them on the sheet.

makes a whole lotta gnocchi...so, if your unlike me...have friends over to help eat them up!


to serve it up i ladled some lamb stew into a bowl scooped up some gnocchi next to it and grated a little fresh parm over top....so good!

note:
for the riccota...get a small mesh strainer...line it with a paper towel and dump the ricotta into it. it'll gradually drain the liquid out..not a whole lot but enough. its worth it otherwise the dough won't be so pliable and easy to work with.