Slow Cooked Lamb Neck Fillets

These lamb neck fillets are slow cooked in red wine and vegetables that make a delicious sauce for the meat.

The lamb is meltingly tender with no effort, so this recipe is perfect for entertaining or just a cosy night at home.

Easy, tasty and full of flavour.

Enjoy.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this recipe
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking Time
• 🥗 Serve with
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you will love this recipe

• Make ahead for easy entertaining.
• Simple to make.
• Tender and delicious.

🤔FAQs

Lamb and beef have always featured heavily in traditional British cooking and lamb neck fillets or lamb neck on the bone was a very popular cut.

If you only tend to eat leg or shoulder of lamb, you should definitely try the cut in this recipe or use the meat in pies and stews.

The sauce base is made with a classic mirepoix base. Celery, carrots and onions are cooked together and then left in the stock to add flavour while the dish cooks.

The vegetables are traditionally removed from the stock but there is no need.

Blending the vegetables into the sauce creates a thick sauce that is perfect with your choice of vegetables and some crispy potatoes.

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🥘 Ingredients

• Celery - a few sticks of celery.
• Carrots - any type.
• Onion - brown or white onion.
• Lamb - boneless lamb neck fillets.
• Redcurrant jelly - from a jar.
• Wine - red wine that you would drink with the meal. Due to the long cooking process, the alcohol will be cooked out of the sauce. If you prefer, replace the amount of red wine with more stock.
• Cornflour - also known as cornstarch for thickening and stabilising the sauce.
• Seasoning - salt and freshly ground black pepper to season the meat.
• Oil - vegetable or olive oil for searing the meat.
• Stock - hot lamb stock. I use a lamb concentrate in a pot.
• Rosemary - fresh sprig of rosemary

The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.

🍽 Equipment

• sharp knife
• chopping board
• standard blender or immersion
• 1.5 litre lidded casserole
• frying pan or skillet

🔪 Instructions

Peel the onions and carrot and trim the ends from the celery.

Cut into pieces about 1 centimetre or half an inch.

Occasionally, there might be silvery sinews on the surface of the meat. Just trim these off with a sharp knife.

Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper and season with the salt and pepper on both sides just before searing.

It's important not to let the salt sit on the meat for too long before cooking as it starts to draw out the moisture.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat.

Add the lamb and cook for a couple of minutes until the outside has caramelised.

Turn the meat and repeat the process.

Set the meat aside on a plate.

💭 Top tip

• If you ever wondered if searing beef meat is to make it more tender, the answer is much deeper. It's not about locking juices in or making it tender as the cooking process will take care of that. The main purpose of searing protein, such as beef or lamb, over a high heat with only a little oil, is to produce the Maillard effect. This is the chemical reaction that occurs between the proteins, or amino acids in meat and fish and the natural sugars. This is what gives the meat, colour, flavour and makes it irresistable!.
• If you choose not to sear the meat it will still be cooked, however, it tends to have a more unappetising gray colour.

Put the same pan over a medium heat and add the celery, carrots and onion.

Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to slightly soften the vegetables.

They should not be coloured at this stage.

Add the recurrant jelly and the wine.

Allow the liquid to come to a simmer and reduce the wine for 5 minutes.

Add the stock.

Mix the cornflour with water to make a smooth paste and stir into stock.

Transfer the mixture to a a casserole dish and add the meat and sprig of rosemary.

Put the lid on the dish.

I've used a cast iron dish as I find the lids fit snugly.

⏲️ Cooking Time

Place in an oven preheated to 150 C / 300 F / 130 FAN / Gas 2 and cook for 2 - 3 hours until the lamb is tender.

The lamb may be ready after 2 hours, but oven times can vary depending on the oven and type of dish used.

Remove the rosemary and set the lamb aside in a warm place.

Remove any fat that has come to the surface with a spoon and discard into the rubbish bin when cooled.

Carefully tip the stock and vegetables into a blender and process until smooth.

Check the seasoning and then serve the lamb neck fillets with the sauce.

🥗 Serve with

Try one of these side dishes.

• Honey Roast Chantenay Carrots
• Fondant Potatoes
• Sarladaise Potatoes
• Pan Haggerty
• Roast Potatoes
• Leeks in White Sauce
• Honey Roast Carrots and Parsnips
• Fried Cabbage with Bacon
• Roast Savoy Cabbage
• Whole Baked Cauliflower Cheese
• Roasted Green Beans and Carrots
• Roasted Long Stem Broccoli
• Roasted Swede Chips
• Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes

🥙 Substitutions

• Vegetables - swap the vegetables to include celeriac, swede., leeks or parsnips.

📖 Variations

• Meat - this technique works well with other tough cuts of beef or lamb.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cool, cover and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - pack in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
• Reheat - in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 in a lidded casserole dish until hot.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• Prepare all the vegetables in advance and store in a bag in the fridge.
• Make the slow cooked lamb and sauce the day before and reheat the lamb in the sauce in the oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 or on the hob over a medium heat.

More lamb recipes

• Roast Lamb Shanks
• Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder
• Minted Lamb Burgers
• Saddle of Lamb with Parsley Thyme Stuffing
• Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary
• Cannon of Lamb with Redcurrant Sauce

📋 Recipe

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🍲Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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