Lamb Stroganoff(ish)

I made this recipe up, so forgive not staying true to any recipe here.

I had some lamb stew meat left over from the 1/2 lamb we purchased back in March. I wanted to cook the lamb up slow to get all the flavor out. I did note the flavor of the meat definitely improved the longer I cooked it (slowly mind you).

Slow cooked sauce:

3 large shallot bulbs, sliced into rings (~1/2 cup)
olive oil
1 cup lamb stew meat
1 carton of baby portabellas, sliced (~2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 fresh italian parsley, chopped.
1/2 cup heart red wine
1 cup chicken broth
water to keep sauce slow cooking
salt, paprika to taste

In a large saute pan, I browned the lamb bits on high for a few minutes with a little olive oil, then turned down to medium heat to saute the shallots and mushrooms. Once the shallots started to turn translucent, I tossed in the garlic and parsley, sauteing only about 30 seconds, then splash in the red wine, add the chicken broth and set the pan on low for 2-3 hours. I'd recommend not salting until the mixture cooks down a little, especially if your chicken broth is salted.
Add water if the sauce needs to cook longer and it has become too thick. You want to finish with something resembling the consistency of spaghetti sauce.

To brighten up the affair I decided to add extra veggies to the sauce at the end along with the pasta. English peas are in season so I added a bunch, snap peas would work if you can't get them.

olive oil
1 cup crimini mushrooms, sliced
i clove garlic, minced.
1 cup of English peas (shelled)

1 large dollop of sour cream.
1/4 cup fresh italian parsley, chopped
2/3 pound fettucine or parpadelle noodles
paprika to taste (see below)

Start the water boiling for pasta. When the water starts boil, start sauteing your mushrooms in the olive oil over medium heat and drop the pasta for cooking. (You can always cook the pasta in advance) When the mushrooms reach a nice texture (I sauteed about 5 minutes) add the garlic and cook an additional 30-60sec. Turn the heat down to low, add the sour cream, parsley,your initial lamb sauce, and peas to mixture. Add paprika to taste. NOTE: We had both smoked and spicy paprika, I used a little of both. The smokiness adds a rich flavor and just a little spice works well with the sweetness of the peas. The peas should only cook a few minutes. Taste them occasionally while cooking. They should be bright and tasty but not crunchy. Toss in the pasta once it is cooked and garnish with more italian parsley.

Serve with a hearty red wine.

Spaghetti with Lamb, Broccoli di Cicco and Cipollini

from Joseph Manzare of Globe in SF

This is a really amazing dish. I accidentally added to much spice, but my guests really enjoyed it that way. Also, I since this is a rich dish, I back off the pasta proportion at times to prevent putting everyone to sleep. Or just serve smaller portions.

1 pound spaghetti
1 pound ground lamb
1 1/2 pounds broccoli di cicco (cut into 1/2 inch pieces, use the stem and leaves too!)
1 clove smashed garlic
4 large red jalapeños or 1 large red bell pepper (roasted, peeled and julienned)
6 cipollini (quartered) or 1 large onion (chopped)
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons Capricious aged goat's milk cheese (grated) or parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. In a large skillet, heat olive oil and add garlic. Cook slowly (about 3 minutes) to flavor the oil. When garlic is slightly golden brown, add cipollini and broccoli. Cook for about 5 minutes, until slightly tender. Add lamb and turn up heat to high. Season lamb with salt and pepper. When lamb becomes slightly brown and cooked through, add pepper and parsley. Mix together and let simmer for about 12 minutes or just long enough for your pasta to cook. Cook pasta in salted water. When pasta is done strain, and keep just a little of the pasta cooking liquid with the pasta. Toss the pasta into the skillet with the lamb. Add grated cheese and mix well. Eat.