Lamb Taquitos

This is a great doahead party dish appetizer that can be prepared long in advance and quickly cooked and assembled day of.

Makes 40 finger food hors d’oeuvres.

For the lamb filling:

3 pounds boneless lamb shoulder
Salt and pepper
¼ cup vegetable or olive oil
6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Spanish onions, chopped
2 tbsp fennel seed
2 chopped Mexican dried Guajillo chilis, seeds and stems removed
2 cups chopped canned plum tomatoes
2 cups red wine
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup chopped parsley
1 small bunch thyme

For the taquitos:

20 six inch soft corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 package sweet pea sprouts
Reserved shredded lamb
2 cups Mexican slaw (recipe below)

To be prepped the day before:

Sear the lamb in a 12” iron skillet over medium to high heat on all sides until brown. Remove from the pan and rest. In the same pan, over low to medium heat, add garlic and onion, stir until soft, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with red wine, simmer for 5 minutes then add all of the rest of the ingredients. Return meat to the liquid. Place in a 220 degree oven for 3 hours, covered with foil or a top. Remove the lamb from the braising stock and bring to room temperature.

Strain the braising stock in a sieve (give the vegetables from the sieve to your dog), skim the fat from the stock and reserve 2 cups for final dish and refrigerate overnight.

Using your fingers, remove the fat and discard and shred the meat into small pieces. Pour the reserve stock over the meat, mix well and refrigerate. This will become the filling for your lamb taquitos.

To cook and assemble your lamb taquitos:

Heat the lamb mixture in the oven or stovetop until very hot and keep warm.

Warm the tortillas in batches of five, wrapped in foil and keep in the oven at 300 degrees. To assemble each taquito, lay flat on a large cutting board, sprinkle the cheese on half of the tortilla, making sure that it is at least ½ an inch from the edge to avoid it oozing out when you roll it.

Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the meat on the other half, dot with 2 tablespoons of Mexican slaw and sprinkle with pea shoots. To roll, start at the meat end and roll tightly with both hands towards the cheese. Make sure that the meat is hot so that the melted cheese can be come the glue that holds the taquito together.
Cut in half and place cutside down on the plate and serve.