Navarin of lamb cooked in a pumpkin

Ingredients

(serves 10)

2kg shoulder of lamb, cut into 5cm cubes (middle neck or leg can be used as well)
Salt
Milled pepper
50g olive oil
30g butter
Sugar
1 large onion
12 cloves of garlic, whole
200g carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
4 medium turnips, peeled and cut into wedges (baby turnips can be used as well)
24 baby onions
24 small new potatoes, peeled
100g tomato purée
2tbs flour
1 glass dry white wine
2 litres lamb stock
1 bouquet garni
100g smoked or unsmoked bacon rind
1 large thick-skinned pumpkin, scooped out
100g green beans
100g fresh green garden peas
50g flat parsley, chopped

Method

Season the lamb with salt and pepper and seal in a hot, heavy casserole with the olive oil.

Remove from the pan then, in the same pan, put the butter and a little sugar, together with all the vegetables except for the peas and green beans. Sauté gently until golden, put back the meat, add the tomato purée and the flour, mix well and cook gently on the side of the stove or in a low-heat oven for about 15 minutes. This will allow the flour to cook out.

Deglaze with the white wine. Add the stock, the bouquet garni, bacon rind, adjust seasoning if necessary and cook in moderate oven for about one hour.

Check seasoning and transfer to the pumpkin. Cook for a further 30 minutes to one hour in the pumpkin until tender, and some of the flesh from the pumpkin is soft for scooping out.

Blanch the green peas and beans in salt water and add just before serving with the chopped parsley.