Happy Monday! How was your weekend? I spent mine working at the hospital, which was actually the perfect way to deal with the inclement weather—staying inside. I love that word, “inclement.” It’s like a very fancy way of saying, “absolutely horrible” or, as we say in New York, “f***ing awful.”

To stay warm, I got to enjoy this lamb stew over the weekend. When I saw that Farmigo was featuring lamb from a local farm last week, I had to try it, since I rarely cook with it but always pin recipes I see around the interwebs. I’m glad I stepped out of the norm and made this. Aside from being delicious, this stew was also a great excuse to open a bottle of red wine. I served this over cauliflower rice and steamed red kale with a little goat cheese on top, but it would also be delicious with crusty bread and a salad on the side.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb lamb stew meat
• 1 lb butternut squash, peeled & cubed
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28-oz can diced or whole tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine
• 3 cups vegetable broth or water
• 1 tbsp herbes de provences
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot. Add lamb meat and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Add squash, carrot, celery, onion, and garlic to pot. Cook until soft, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add tomato, wine, and herbs. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until about half the volume, about 5 minutes.
4. Add both and bring to a boil again. Add lamb meat. Simmer ~40 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve hot.

Do you eat lamb? How do you deal with inclement weather?