Lamb Ragu On King's Hawaiian Rolls From "The Bear" Season 2

The first dish technically never gets shown, but it sounded too good not to make. Syd used to run a catering company that ended up going under and that drives her character arc for a lot of this season. She described making a long cooked lamb ragu for an event, but the pasta didn’t work out so she put it on King's Hawaiian rolls instead. I am a fiend for King's Hawaiian rolls, so I had to try it.

Prep Time	Cook Time	Serves
30 minutes	10 hours + rest	6-8 people

Lamb Ragu

2 lamb shanks (roughly 2 pounds in total)

1 yellow onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

2 large carrots, diced

1 fennel bulb, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

6oz tomato paste

Optional anchovy paste

1/2 cup red wine

4 cups beef stock

Bay leaves

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Kings Hawaiian Rolls

Day 1: Make Long Cooked Braise

Set your oven to 225f. This will braise for about 8 hours, so be aware of the timing. This recipe works best when braised on day 1, then served on day 2.

Heat your Remove any excess silver skin from the lamb shanks and season them with salt and pepper. Heat a large pan or dutch oven over medium. Once hot, add a little cooking oil and begin browning the lamb shanks. Brown the outsides until golden, then remove them from the pan. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and fennel to the hot pan. Cook until softened and then add garlic. Cook that until the garlic softens.

To the hot vegetables, add the tomato paste and anchovy paste. Cook the tomato paste until it has darkened in color. Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Add the beef stock and bay leaves. Stir in salt and pepper, then add the lamb shanks back to the pot. Place uncovered in the hot oven, and cook for 6-8 hours. The temperature should be low enough that you don't need to worry about anything burning. Leaving the lid off ensure evaporation and reduction.

After 6 hours, check on the tenderness of the lamb. If it's tender, you can remove the pot from the oven. If not, leave it for 2 more hours.

Once it's cooked, remove the pan from the oven. Remove the bay leaves. Take the lamb out of the pot to shred while the liquid cools. When the lamb is cool enough to handle, pull the meat away from the bone and fat. Put the pulled meat back into the liquid. Once it's cooled down, place the whole pot in the fridge overnight.

Day 2: Finish And Serve

Remove the pot from the fridge, then place it on the stove over medium to come up to a simmer. Add a splash of water if the sauce is too thick. Simmer over low for 2 hours, or until the sauce is thickened to your liking.

Once you're ready to eat, add red wine vinegar along with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over toasted King's Hawaiian rolls, or tossed with pasta.