Sweet and Sour lamb - (Agnello in agrodolce)

Ingredients

1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
5 tablespoons of olive oil
5 tablespoons full cream milk
3 tablespoons tomato purée
1 kg (2 lb) lamb shoulder, cut into bite-sized cubes
125 ml high quality white wine vinegar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
6 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Method

Fry the onions in half of the olive oil until golden brown and reserve.
Meanwhile, mix the milk and tomato paste together.
Brown the lamb in the remaining oil.
Season the meat with a little salt, add the onions back to the pan and pour in the tomato mixture. I added just a few tablespoons of water at this stage as it looked as though it would not survive an hour of simmering.
Simmer gently for about an hour.
After an hour, add the vinegar, sugar and a good grind of black pepper then cook for the final 15 minutes.
Chop the basil and add just before serving.