It’s late March and green leaves as sharp as a dart are opening on the trees that shield this garden from the most bone chilling of the winter winds. The mornings are still crisp. You can see your breath. Stew weather. Unlike carrots, rutabaga becomes translucent when it cooks, making a casserole the glowing heart of the home.

　　

Ingredients

enough for 4

　　onions – 2 large

　　olive oil – 3 tablespoons

　　lamb shanks – 4

　　all-purpose flour – 2 tablespoons

　　garlic – 3 cloves, thinly sliced

　　light stock (water will do) – 3 cups (750ml)

　　white vermouth or white wine – a scant 1/2 cup (100ml)

　　a large rutabaga

　　the juice of half a lemon

　　preserved lemons – 2

　　parsley – 4 bushy sprigs

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Peel the onions and slice them into thick segments. Warm the olive oil in a Dutch oven or other heavy pot and season the lamb shanks. Lightly brown the lamb all over in the hot oil, then lift it out and add the onions to the pan. Let them soften and turn a pale gold, then stir in the flour. Add the garlic, stock, and vermouth or white wine and bring to a boil. Peel the rutabaga and cut it into fat chunks about the size of a marshmallow. As soon as the liquid starts to boil, add the rutabaga, pushing the pieces under the gravy, then stir in the lemon juice, pushing the spent lemon shell among the rutabaga, plus a seasoning of salt and pepper. Return the lamb shanks to the pan. Cover with wax paper and then a lid and place in the oven for two hours, turning the shanks from time to time.

　　

Step 2

After an hour and a half ’s cooking, cut the preserved lemons in half and scrape out the pith. Chop the skin fairly finely. Remove the lamb from the oven, lift the lid, and push the chopped lemon down into the gravy. Cover once more and return to the oven for thirty minutes, until the lamb is easy to pull away from the bone and the rutabaga tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.

　　

Step 3

Remove the leaves from the parsley sprigs, chop coarsely, and stir into the gravy. Let sit, covered, for a few minutes to settle down, then check the seasoning and serve.

　　Tender