At a glance
You're making a French-style lamb spread where meat cooks low and slow for hours until it falls apart, then gets packed into bowls with its own fat for storage. The real time commitment is the 6–8 hours of gentle simmering, but the hands-on work is minimal — just brown the meat, add seasonings, and let the oven do most of the heavy lifting.
1/7
Get some unrendered lard
In the recipe I traditionally use for rillettes, you start with lard cut into cubes and rendered down. This time I was out of luck, though — my favourite butcher didn't have any raw lard, so I used lard that was already rendered.
For this step
0/12/7
Brown the meat in the fat
I melted the lard in a pot and added the meat, cut into cubes. Brown the meat thoroughly in the fat it's bathing in, taking care it doesn't burn. Once nicely browned, I added a little water and let it simmer gently under a lid.
For this step
0/13/7
Add the seasoning
After three hours, add salt, freshly ground pepper, garlic, onion cut into half-rings (it will completely dissolve during further cooking), and a sprig of sage. Stir and let it simmer for another 3 to 5 hours, this time without the lid, until the meat falls completely apart.
For this step
0/5
