April 10th, 2013 
by jimmy
A simple, easy to make Italian flavoured lamb dish with balanced flavours. Lamb cut-offs are from the shoulder and have some bone in which adds wonderful flavour to this.
Lamb cut-offs are a trimming from a lamb shoulder roast when the butcher is getting the roasts ready for sale. Its a yummy cut and some of the bone that is attached to the meat has great marrow in to which helps boost the flavour of the dish.
Serves 4.
Ingredients
900 to 1 kg (2.2lb) Quality Mark New Zealand lamb shoulder cut-offs
Coconut or olive oil
2 onions quartered
2 400g (16oz) cans of Italian (roma) crushed tomatoes
4 cloves garlic crushed or 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
4 cups of fresh diced mixed vegetables of your choice
1 cup beef, chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
Pre heat your oven to 165°C or if using a slow cooker, turn it on low setting.
In a medium sized plate or bowl season the lamb cut-offs with salt and pepper.
Heat a heavy based fry pan or skillet to a medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is warm add lamb and brown on all sides in batches if required and then transfer to a medium sized casserole dish or slow cooker bowl.
Lower the heat to medium and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook off for about 5 minutes till the onion has softened. Add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
Pour the sauce over the lamb, cover and cook in the oven for 3 ½ hours or cook in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours.
Serve with mashed kumera (sweet potato) to soak up the sauce.
Tip: You can replace the cut-offs with 3-4 lamb shanks, just brown them off and follow the recipe. Once cooked remove the shanks, remove the meat from, dice chunky and return to the sauce to warm up just before serving.
