Goat and Butternut Squash Stew

This is a tasty, spicy dish for a cold fall or winter evening and can be a good way to introduce goat to people who think they don’t like goat. If you’re not a fan of a long saute process, it can also be prepared in a slow cooker. Serve over rice.

Preparation Details

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr 50 mins

Total Time: 2 hrs 5 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika
• ½ teaspoon smoked hot paprika
• ½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
• 1 (3 pound) bone-in goat shank
• ¼ teaspoon salt, or more to taste
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (1 pound) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 pinch saffron

Steps

1. Mix cumin, coriander, ginger, sweet paprika, smoked sweet paprika, smoked hot paprika, and chile powder together in a bowl.
2. Rub goat shank with about 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. Heat coconut oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until melted and shimmering. Cook goat shank in hot oil until browned as completely as you can get it, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove shank to a bowl, reserving oil in the skillet.
4. Reduce heat under the skillet to low. Cook and stir onion in the retained oil until soft, 7 to 10 minutes. Add butternut squash and garlic; cook and stir until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the cumin mixture over the squash mixture; cook and stir 1 minute more.
5. Stir tomatoes, water, cinnamon stick, and saffron into the squash mixture; return goat shank to the Dutch oven, bring the liquid to a simmer, and cook until the goat meat is tender and falling from the bone, 90 minutes to 2 hours.
6. Remove shank from Dutch oven to a cutting board. Strip meat from the bone and cut into bite-size pieces. Discard bone. Stir meat into the squash mixture, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the meat is reheated, about 5 minutes.