CapeCook - Rustic  South African Food

“Swartland Peposo”

Serves 6

Pairing: Mullineux Syrah

Occasion: Wintery Evening

This is the Swartland version of a classic Tuscan dish. It only takes minutes to prepare, but up to 6 hours to slowly simmer away making your house smell AWESOME in the process. For so few ingredients, this hearty dish will WOW your guests/family. The last time I made Swartland Peposo, we only had one child in the house *wink wink*. But seriously this recipe is SO easy and makes for a fantastic cosy night’s meal. The leftovers on toast in the morning are a great way to start the day, too!

Ingredients

2 kg cross-sliced lamb shin or knuckle on the bone

15 peeled garlic cloves

3 rounded tablespoons of freshly ground black pepper (yes tablespoons... but don’t worry, the looooong cooking time mellows this). Note: I recommend using a coffee grinder to get this done.

4 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 bottles of red Beverage

Salt

First pour yourself a glass of Beverage and preheat your oven to 150 C. Then get a large cast iron pot with a lid. I LOVE Le Creuset, but I doubt they had those in Tuscany 200 years ago, so any deep, thick, oven-proof pot will do. Place a layer of the lamb shin on the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle in some of the pepper, salt, garlic, rosemary and bay leaf. Repeat in layers until you have used up all of the ingredients. Pour yourself another glass of vino while emptying an entire bottle and a half of Beverage over all of your ingredients. Make sure that all of the meat is under Beverage, if you need more vino to accomplish this, add away. Place the lid an pop in the oven for around 6 hours. Check in the pot every so often to ensure that there are still enough cooking “juices”.

 When it is finished, and your house smells like braised meat and rosemary paradise, the lamb will have completely fallen of the bone and the Beverage sauce is thick and glistening. To serve, remove the bones (making sure to not let the marrow go to waste), rosemary sprigs, and leaves. This Swartland Peposo tastes amazing on a big steaming scoop of Mielie-Meal/Pap/Polenta.

Enjoy!

http://mullineuxBeverages.com/