One of my favorite dishes to make for St. Patrick’s Day is a rich, hearty lamb stew. It offers comforting solace against whatever weather March is throwing at us and goes well with celebratory drinks. Since we’ll be celebrating yet another holiday at home, such a stew is even more welcome.
It’s even possible to transform this traditionally slow-cooked dish into a 30-minute meal by using two key shortcut ingredients: ground lamb and frozen roast potatoes. I’ve used ground meat in many a 5:30 Challenge adaptation, and, because it is so rich, lamb is a particularly great candidate for this trick. It’ll bring abundant flavor to the stew, even after only 10 minutes of simmering, and its high fat content means there’s little risk of dry or overcooked meat, even if you happen to forget about it for a bit.
Frozen roast potatoes come fully cooked, lightly browned, and mixed with chopped onions. If you can’t find them at the grocery store, use frozen french fries or hash browns. Add the potatoes to the stew straight from the freezer; by the time they’re hot, they’ll have absorbed the flavor of the lamb and broken down just a touch to help thicken the stew. Brands for this style of potatoes can vary widely in sodium levels. Because of this, I prefer to use low- or no-sodium broth, and then wait until the soup has finished simmering to season with salt.
For a pop of lucky green color, stir in a big handful of frozen peas at the end of cooking. Like the potatoes, they do not need to thaw; they only take about minute to heat through. If you’ve got parsley in the house, it makes a nice garnish — and brings a little more luck.
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