Meals for under £10: Lamb ragu

In northern Italy a ragu is typically a sauce of minced or chopped meat cooked with sautéed vegetables in a liquid. This can be broth, stock, water, wine, milk cream or tomato or a combination.

In the south, however, a ragu is often prepared using whole cuts of beef and pork, sometimes sausages, cooked with vegetables and tomatoes.

Serves 4-6
10 mins prep
Allow 150 mins for cooking

What you will need:

1 half Scotch Lamb PGI shoulder on the bone

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

4 sprigs fresh oregano or

1 tsp dried

2 tbsp sundried tomato paste

2 cans chopped tomatoes

70g dry black olives (pitted dry black olives with herbs are good here)

Handful fresh basil leaves

Pasta and freshly grated parmesan to serve

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the lamb shoulder over a high heat until nicely browned all over.

Lift out and set aside.

Add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic to the pan, lower the heat a little and cook for 5 minutes until softened and golden.

2. Stir in the oregano, sundried tomato paste and canned tomatoes.

Fill one of the cans with water and add to the pan.

Return the lamb, bring to a simmer then cover and cook very gently for 2 hours.

3. Lift the lamb out of the sauce then use forks to strip the meat off the bone.

Shred any large pieces and return to the pan with the olives and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Toss with freshly cooked pasta and torn basil leaves.

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan and a good grinding of black pepper.