Lamb With Garlic & Fava Beans

On our recent trip to the US, DH & I found ourselves happily well-fed w/beef & ready again for some lamb. While visiting friends (Disa & Curtis in Huntsville, AL), I found this dish in her "Mediterranean: Food of the Sun" cookbook by Jacqueline Clark & Joanna Farrow. This is very easy to fix & we were rewarded w/a taste sensation that will be repeated soon now that we are home again.

• Ready In: 2 hrs
• Serves: 6
• Yields: 6 8 oz Servings

Ingredients

• 3  lbs lamb (well-trimmed of fat & cut in approx 1 1/2 in cubes)
• 4  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  large onion (chopped)
• 9  garlic cloves (uncooked)
• 1  bay leaf
• 1  teaspoon paprika
• 1⁄2 cup dry sherry
• 4  ounces fava beans, shelled
• 2  tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
•  salt (to taste)
•  black pepper (to taste)

Directions

1. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in large Dutch oven. Add half of cubed lamb & brown well on all sides. Remove meat from pan, set aside & brown the rest of the lamb the same way. Remove meat from pan & set aside.
2. Heat remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil in the same pan, add chopped onion & cook for approx 5 min till soft. Return meat to pan with any drippings accumulated & combine w/onions.
3. Add whole garlic cloves, bay leaf, paprika & dry sherry. Bring to a slow boil, reduce heat, cover tightly & simmer VERY GENTLY for 1 1/2 hrs till tender.
4. Add fava beans 10 min b4 end of cooking time. Remove garlic cloves + bay leaf, season w/salt & pepper to taste & stir in fresh parsley just b4 serving.
5. NOTES: Lima beans may be subbed for fava beans. I used fava beans & did not peel their wrinkled skin before serving as the pic showed them unpeeled. Just to ck, I peeled a few & found I preferred them peeled for any future efforts. I worried a bit about the apparent shortage of liquid, but that was unfounded as there was plenty of the rich brown sauce.