The Navarin of lamb is a traditional French recipe from the region around Paris. This is a typical spring and summer dish, with seasonal vegetables. My mum’s version of the famous French chef Paul Bocuse recipe. This lamb stew is always a success!
Table of Contents
Navarin of lamb: a historical name
This lamb stew’s name comes from a famous battle opposing the Ottoman Empire against the 3 allies of France, the UK and Russia in October 1827 in the Bay of Navarin in today’s independent Greece.
Ingredients for the best Navarin of lamb
1kg lamb cut in big pieces: neck, leg, flank (ask the butcher to cut the meat for a Navarin)
8 carrots in a bundle
8 white turnips
12 fresh onions
200g of fresh mangetouts (or snow peas – US & AU)
200g green peas
10 middle-size potatoes (New or Grenaille recommended)
8 fresh garlic cloves or 4 dry
75g tomato paste
½ litter chicken stock
3 dessert spoons of coarse salt
1 tablespoon of floor
Parsley
1 bouquet garni (with 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, 1 sprig of fresh thyme, 2 bay leaves)
40g of butter (or olive oil depending on your taste)
25 cl of dry white wine
People who liked this article also read My grandma’s Gougère recipe.
It would do a great apero snack!
My mum’s preparation inspired by Paul Bocuse’s recipe
The vegetable preparation
Peel and wash all the vegetables. String the mangetouts. Keep a small part of the carrot stems for a nicer fresh style.
Cut the spring onion stems (do not throw the stems away: you can slice them and freeze them. They will go perfectly in a French omelette!).
Steam the mangetouts and the green peas for 5 to 8 minutes depending on how big and thick the mangetouts are. Keep them crunchy.
Put on the side and we will integrate them to the dish at the end.
The lamb meat preparation
The neck is a bony part of the lamb that will remain whole during the slow cooking. It is also very affordable. The leg of lamb is the star cut of the lamb. More expensive and very savoury and tender, it is a delight. It is recommended to have more than one type of cut varying the pleasures.
| 1 – L‘épaule | 5 – Le collier |
| 2 – La poitrine et les basses côtes | 6 – Le collier |
| 3 – Hautes côtes | 7 – La selle |
| 4 – Côtes découverte | 8 – Gigot raccourci |
Brown the meat with half of the butter in a casserole dish (Le Creuset style that is oven-proof). Add the crushed garlic and the tomato paste. Simmer, stirring for a few minutes.
Take out the meat pieces and put them on the side. Then, brown the flour with the meat juice and add the white wine and whisk until the wine has evaporated. Add the meat to the sauce with the bouquet garni.
Cook for 45 minutes in the oven at 180°C or on the stove at medium heat.
Cut the turnip in half, as well as the carrots if necessary. Brown the vegetables in a pan with the rest of the butter with some salt.
Add the vegetables to the meat once the first 45 minutes are completed. Take one ladle of the sauce to deglaze the pan and add it to the casserole.
The sauce shouldn’t be too liquid and should just cover the vegetable and the meat. Cook on medium fire for 30 minutes.
Add the potatoes, cut in half if needed and check the seasoning. Cook for another 45 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, skim the fat off. Then integrate the mangetouts and the peas, and simmer for a few minutes. Taste the result and take out the bouquet garni!
It is ready to serve with some freshly sizzled parsley
The Navarin goes greatly with a good young dry red wine such as a Pomerol, a Côtes du Rhône Village or many others.
The Tart Tatin would be a perfect dessert to finish this traditional French meal! Another of my grandma’s recipes.
If you liked this recipe, I’m sure your friends will do too. Share the love of good food via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
For more French traditional family recipes, check out these other posts:
My mum’s veal stew with vanilla! One of my favourite dishes!
My Grandma’s Savoie cake recipe
My Grandma’s tart Tatin recipe
Liked this post? Pin it for later!
2 Comments
Kezzie
Ooh, this does look very yummy! I like all the vegetables involved.
Mademoiselle Guiga
Thank you, Kessie! It is not so hard to cook 😉 If you try making it, let me know how it goes!