Name: Lamb and Bean Soup
Yield: Makes 6 Generous Servings the Lamb Shanks
Ingredients: 2 cups dried cannellini, navy, or flageolet beans, soaked in cold water for 3 hours; salt and pepper; 20 garlic cloves, unpeeled; 3 tablespoons olive oil or duck fat; 1-½ quarts chicken or beef broth or water; 4 lamb shanks, cut in half crosswise by the butcher; 1 medium-size carrot; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 clove, stuck into the onion; 1 large bouquet garni; 1 medium-size onion, peeled

Preparation info

Makes
6
Generous Servings the Lamb Shanks

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Splendid Soups

By James Peterson

Published 2000

About

This soup is an example of an apparently rich and very tasty soup that uses relatively little fat while somehow capturing all the flavor of lamb.

The best cut of lamb for this soup—it also happens to be very inexpensive—is the shank. The shanks don’t have a lot of meat on them, but they provide natural gelatin that gives the soup a rich flavor and a creamy texture.

This soup can be made entirely in advance. Be sure to prepare the beans at the same time you’re braising the la