Campanelle with Lamb Ragù

This meal was quite tasty, and not especially hard to make. It's technically supposed to be Pappardelle with Lamb Ragù, but we couldn't find Pappardelle, so we used Campanelle. It looked like a fun shape.

4 SERVINGS

• PREP: 50 minutes
• TOTAL: 50 minutes

Recipe by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen

May 2010

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds round-bone lamb shoulder chops, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (*Lamb is expesnive...we used about 1/3 of this. It would be better with more lamb.)
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 cups chopped leeks (about 3 medium; white and pale green parts only)
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 8-ounce package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
• 2 cups frozen peas with pearl onions, thawed
• 1 8.8- to 9-ounce package pappardelle or other wide egg noodles
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Preparation

• Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle lamb with salt, pepper, and flour. Add lamb to skillet and sauté until browned, about 5 minutes. Add leeks; sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add wine and boil until slightly thickened, scraping up browned bits, about 3 minutes. Add broth and oregano; bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered until lamb is tender, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Add artichokes and peas with onions. Simmer until heated through, about 4 minutes. (*We raised the heat and boiled it some more to reduce it. We ended up adding a little more flour to thicken the sauce, although it might have been OK without that step.)
  
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain.
• Place pasta in large bowl. Spoon ragù over and sprinkle with parsley.

Another delightful little hint. We purchased some imported butter (Celles sur Belles), which is traditional churn butter with little sea salt crystals. My aunt had some of the butter on her bread melt into the ragù and discovered it was quite tasty. Indeed, a little pat of butter kicked the taste up a nice little notch.