Lamb Braised With White Beans and Turnips

Lamb Braised With White Beans and Turnips
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
Total Time
2 hours 15 minutes
Rating
4(91)
Notes
Read community notes

Bordeaux is more distinctive for wines than food, though its vinously sauced dishes are famous, as is its lamb from Pauillac. Indeed, while tasting, it struck me that succulent lamb, with slightly gamy fat, would best unpin the tight embrace of the 2008 vintage from the Médoc. I braised chunks of lamb shoulder in wine, gave the dish an edge with lemon zest and white turnips, and added buttery white beans, a classic partner for lamb. If you like canned beans, rinse and drain them, and add in place of the cooked beans, with the turnips, during final simmering.

Featured in: Wines of The Times: Ready or Not, 2008 Médocs

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • cup dried white cannellini, Tarbais or great northern beans
  • 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3pounds lamb shoulder in 2-inch chunks, with bone
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 8medium white turnips (about 1½ pounds), peeled and quartered
  • 1cup (about 2) finely chopped leeks
  • 4large cloves garlic, sliced
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, plus sprigs for garnish
  • cups dry white wine
  • cups veal or chicken stock (a bit more if reheating; see Step 5)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

1184 calories; 81 grams fat; 33 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 35 grams monounsaturated fat; 7 grams polyunsaturated fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 64 grams protein; 1837 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place beans in a bowl, cover with water to a depth of 2 inches and soak 8 hours or overnight.

  2. Step 2

    Heat oil on medium-high in a 4-quart stovetop casserole or deep sauté pan. Season lamb with salt and pepper, add to pan and brown. Remove to a platter. Add turnips and brown lightly. Remove to a bowl. Reduce heat to low. Add leeks and garlic, and sauté until softened. Stir in lemon zest, rosemary and wine. Return lamb to pan, cover and simmer on low 1 hour.

  3. Step 3

    While meat cooks, drain beans, place in a saucepan with 3 cups water, bring to a simmer, cover and cook 1 hour. Beans should be tender; if not, cook another 15 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    After 1 hour, lamb should also be tender. Remove it, leaving all liquid in the pot. Drain beans and add to the pot. Add turnips and 1.5 cups stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Tuck lamb back in, cover and cook on low 30 to 45 minutes, until all is very tender.

  5. Step 5

    Transfer to a deep platter and serve, garnished with rosemary. Or set aside, reheat (you may need a little stock) and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
91 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Made this over the very cold weekend -- it took some prep time but was absolutely delicious and hearty. Family loved it. I added some lemon juice in addition to the zest and a threw in a few more cloves of garlic. Nice alternative to beef stew, and a great use for all the turnips I got in my CSA box!

This was fabulous--marvelous blend of flavors! My vegetable finicky husband, who turned up his nose at the thought of eating turnips, wiped his bowl clean with some French bread. I soaked the beans longer than was required & did not need to add any broth when reheating. I used boneless shoulder (2 pounds rather than 3). I trimmed fat from the meat before cooking it. I drained the sauce from the solids and refrigerated it so I could "lift" off the solidified fat.

This is delicious. We were serving it the day we cooked it, so I wasn’t able to refrigerate and defat it, but I did pour out the fat after browning the meat. Browned turnips, as in this recipe, have a whole different and milder flavor. Used canned, rinsed cannelli beans, 28 oz. could have used another 15 oz can. Know that, if you’re serving this to guests, they should be the eating-with-your fingers kind of friends. There’s no other way to eat around the bone.

Used potatoes because I did not have turnips, but would like to try this with parsnips. Added carrots because I thought it needed color. Lemon and rosemary really make this dish. Great on a cold November night.

This was better than expected, I didn’t cut my Shoulder up. Used a 4 pounder. Put it in the over for about 3 hours with top on then 45 min with top off at 410. Ended very very very well. Thanks for the recipe

I made a bastardized version as I only had two sweet beautiful lamb cuts from the boucherie. Wow! The flavors should be played with—lamb, turnips, leeks, lemon, rosemary—over and over again.

Without having a photo with this recipe, I'm not sure if mine turned out as expected. I ended up with a lot of broth, and the final dish was similar to a soup/stew. I appreciated that this recipe helped me use up some turnips and beans I had, and the end result was good but great. None of the flavors really popped for me, but it would be a good meal for a cold night.

For two: less than a pound of lamb cooked until the meat fell from the bone worked very well with same measurements of broth and wine. Added carrots and a rosemary sprig as well 2 pinches of lemon zest toward the end. Served with sautéed buttered cabbage and rosemary focaccia. Very light for a stew and we loved it!

Disappointing. The lamb came out very tender but very boring otherwise. I tried brightening it with some lemon juice, as one commenter suggested, but it didn't help. No contrast of flavors, textures, color.

I'd say cooking time is 15+ minutes too short, when allowing time to brown both the lamb and the turnips. Made as per recipe. One thing I'd do next time is to put the turnips in the pot and then add the beans, since the beans are already tender, and the turnips need to be cooked through. Easier to keep the turnips fully in the liquid. I also added a bit of reserved bean broth to top up the liquid a bit.

Used Rancho Gordo Mayocoba beans, which were delicious (and didn't take quite the whole hour to cook). Verdict - delicious!

I found this to be on the boring side. Mild, soothing, but not really anything that stands out flavorwise. I wouldn't cook again.

Made with 1 pound boneless lamb stew, 1 large diced onion instead of leeks, 4 cups beef stock instead of chicken, added a couple sliced carrots, omitted wine. Pressure cooked for 35 minutes on high, added 1 can drained white northern beans. Served with roasted radishes in place of turnips in the stew. Lemon zest is necessary!

Made this with one lamb shank (just under 1lb) for two people. Adjusted liquid proportionally. Used canned butter beans (Lima beans?), and I didn't have leeks, so used an onion instead. Came out delicious, with a great flavour profile.

This was pretty good. My lamb shoulder with bone was mostly fat and bone so ended up with about 1.5 pounds of meat. I used more beans and tokyo turnips and some cabbage I had left over. The rosemary was too strong for me - I think thyme would have been better. It was good but no one was swooning over it.

Delicious!

I adapted this, using 1 pound of dried beans and substituting peeled watermelon radishes for the turnips. It was delicious! The beans are the best part of this dish.

Used lamb shoulder chop. Subbed red wine for white and oregano for rosemary, only because that's what was available. Served over rice. Really good and husband liked it too. My lamb wasn't real fatty, and I didn't defat before serving.

This was delicious. Something that I was able to do because the turnips were young/small is that I shedded the leafy tops and spooned the stew over them. It was tasty and the tops didn’t go to waste!

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