Lamb, Artichoke and Rosemary Stew

Lamb, Artichoke and Rosemary Stew

I know you are all thinking - stew in the summer?? I enjoy soups and stews as much as I love salads and right now, I kind of miss them! Since the heat wave has broke I thought it might be a nice change. This recipe comes from 'The Daily Soup Cookbook' which is by far the best soup book I've found. Do you remember the Seinfeld episode with the 'soup nazi'? Well this is the book of those recipes! I highly recommend this book and it even has a vegetarian section. This stew braises lamb shanks or chops for over 2 hours until the meat is falling off the bone. The artichokes add such a wonderful clean flavor keeping this stew very light. I love to serve it over egg noodles or with home made biscuits, but it would be great with anything. Crank up the air conditioning and try this one! You'll love it.

origin- The Daily Soup Cookbook *note I am giving you the recipe with my changes only
difficulty - easy but time consuming because of the cooking time
health meter - medium (lamb isn't the leanest meat)

5 tbsp olive oil
5 lamb shanks or chops
1 large vidalia onion chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
3-4 leeks rinsed well and chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp dried rosemary (I like to grind up the whole leaves instead of using powdered)
2 bay leaves
2 tsps kosher salt
4 cups strong chicken broth
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes roughly chopped with juice
2-3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup red wine
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chopped scallions for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides. Remove from pot. Add the onions, celery, leeks and garlic to the same pot including the oil and sweat for 4 minutes until tender. Add the rosemary, bay leaves, and salt. Stir to coat. Return the lamb to the pot and add chicken stock, tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Place covered pot in oven and braise for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and remove lamb shanks. Pull the meat from the bones (discarding fat and bones) and return to the pan. I like to skim any excess oil off the top before returning the meat. Place the pot over medium heat and stir in the artichokes and balsamic vinegar. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and serve topped with chopped scallions.