serves 6

This is a good recipe for a basic stew, if you want to add a topping see Lamb stew kinda hot-pot and Lamb stew with a mash topping for everyday recipes, or Lamb stew with a pastry lid and Lamb stew with lovely dumplings for more of a treat. 2 sticks of celery 2 medium onions 2 carrots 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary olive oil 500g diced stewing lamb, approximately 2cm cubes 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour 500ml lamb stock or vegetable stock, preferably organic or red wine* 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes sea salt and freshly ground black pepper To prepare your stew If using the oven to cook your stew, preheat it to 180C/350F/gas 4 Trim the ends off your celery and roughly chop the sticks Peel and roughly chop the onions Peel the carrots, slice lengthways and roughly chop Pick and roughly chop the rosemary leaves, discard the stalks To cook your stew Put a casserole pan on a medium heat Put all the vegetables and rosemary leaves into the pan with 2 lugs of olive oil and fry for 10 minutes Add your meat and flour Pour in the stock or red wine and tinned tomatoes Give it a good stir, then season with a teaspoon of sea salt (less if using table salt) and a few grinds of pepper Bring to the boil, put the lid on and either simmer slowly on your hob or cook in an oven for 2 hours Remove the lid for the final half hour of simmering or cooking and add a splash of water if it looks a bit dry When done, your meat should be tender and delicious Remember to taste it before serving to see if it needs a bit more salt and pepper *If youre cooking at home then you might want to try using red wine instead of stock this will give your stew a much richer colour, just like in the pictures

JAMIESHOMECOOKINGSKILLS.COM
Recipe Jamie Oliver. Photography David Loftus / Matt Russell.

JAMIESHOMECOOKINGSKILLS.COM
Recipe Jamie Oliver. Photography David Loftus / Matt Russell.