Lamb Sauce

As it goes for most sauces making, it always begins with a robust foundation. This lamb sauce is just that. It starts with roasted bones and tomato paste. Deglaze with ruby port—the deep, caramelized notes of marrow and the gentle tang of cooked tomatoes setting the stage for something truly memorable. Then vegetables, rosemary, stock and water are added to the mixture in a large pot. Slowly reduced for hours, the lamb stock will end passing through a fine sieve, emerging as a rich, golden-brown essence that carries the soul of slow cooking. It will then be cooked down again with a zest of orange and spices—think warm cumin, and cracked black pepper—and thickened with a roux until it clings to the back of a spoon like velvet. The ideal sauce to pair with lamb dishes: poured over a roasted leg, spooned into a shepherd’s pie, or swirled alongside a seared rack. Also, lamb sauce (alone or mixed with tomato sauce) goes beautifully with eggs, pasta, rice, potatoes and so on—a quiet workhorse that turns simple staples into something deeply satisfying.

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As it goes for most sauces making, it always begins with a robust foundation...

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Roasting Bones

In order to get a dark brown fond, it all begins with roasting the bones. Preheat a fan oven to 400ºF/200ºC. Spread the bones directly onto the pan (if some have meat left attached to them, that's fine). Roast the bones for 30 minutes. Then spread tomato paste over the bones and put them back in the oven for 10 more minutes, until the tomato paste begins to darken (if slightly burned it's fine).

Lamb Stock

Remove the roasted bones from the oven and deglaze with port. Let them stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or so. Transfer the bones to the stockpot, along with any scraped-up bits left behind. Add the herbs, peppercorns, onions, leek, carrots, garlic, and chicken or veal stock, and cover with water to the top. Bring to a boil, then let the stock simmer for 12 to 18 hours. If you plan to go to bed while your stock is cooking, make sure the bones are still covered with water. After about 12 hours of cooking, roughly half of the liquid should have evaporated.

Roux

Roux can be made in advance. Melt the fat over medium-low heat. Add the flour all at once, stirring constantly with a whisk. Cook for about 2 minutes until pale golden. The raw flour smell disappears. Set it aside.

Sauce

Pass the stock through a chinois over a mixing bowl to get more room. Then retransfer the liquid back to a 3-liter/quart saucepan. You should have about 2 liters/quarts of liquid left.
Add the orange peel zest and continue to reduce by half over low heat. The more the fond is reduced, the more the flavors will concentrate—just like demi-glace or glace. The downside is that you will end up with less sauce. So a good compromise is reached when enough flavor is there. The roux will then texturize it without losing too much liquid. Whisk hot liquid into the room temp roux and simmer until thickened.
Season lamb sauce to taste with ras el-hanout and salt.

Storage

Ready-to-use sauce can be made ahead of time and stored in deli containers. Label it and keep it refrigerated for up to 5 days, or freeze it for up to 6 months. A couple of days before using the sauce, let it thaw in the refrigerator. Slowly rewarm it on the stove. This lamb sauce is delicious mixed with 30 percent of tomato sauce; use it for ravioli, rice, potatoes, eggs etc..