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1
Put the beans into a large bowl of cold water, and soak them overnight.
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2
You need to pre-cook the beans, for all that they linger in the oven for hours and hours later, so put them in a large saucepan and cover them generously with cold water, bring to the boil and cook them for 20 minutes.
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3
Then drain but reserve the liquid.
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4
Preheat the oven to 325F.
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5
Either finely chop the onions, garlic and carrot or bung them all in a processor and blitz.
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6
Sear the lamb in a deep roasting pan, fat-and-skin-side down, over a fairly high heat on top of the stove until it takes on some color, and then remove.
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7
Add the onion mush to the roasting pan, adding only a spoonful of oil as the lamb should have rendered some fat, and turn down the heat to fry gently, stirring every now and again, for about 5 minutes.
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8
Add the beans, stirring them in well, and then pour in the wine and 4 cups of the reserved bean liquid.
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9
Tuck the rosemary sprigs into the pan, then place the lamb back on top of the beans (right way up this time), season with plenty of sea salt (about 1 1/2 tablespoons or half that of table salt if you must) and bring it to the boil.
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10
When it begins to bubble, cover the pan with foil, baggily but with tightly sealed edges, and place in the oven for 4 hours.
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11
Or turn down to 275F after 3 hours and leave for up to 8 hours; itll be fine to eat after
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12
Remove the tented pan from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes, then remove the foil, and transfer the lamb momentarily to a board.
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13
Stir the beans well in the roasting tin and taste for seasoning.
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14
Spoon them on to a large dish and then carve the lamb into shreds and chunks and arrange on top.
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15
Sprinkle a little more salt over, if you think the lamb needs it, scatter over the chopped parsley and let people dig in.
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16
I wouldnt claim this to be elegant, but it is wonderful.
