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Spiced lamb and bean stew

I love Middle-Eastern slow-cooked lamb stews but I didn’t have any chickpeas in my larder so I decided to use beans instead and add some wine to create a more Mediterranean-style stew. My Spiced lamb and bean stew turned out to be rather delicious! I served it with steamed rice but some lovely fresh flatbread would go with it too. If you'd prefer a traditional version - use chickpeas instead of beans, spinach and no wine!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Cuisine: Fusion, Middle Eastern
Calories: 1234
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 650 g stewing lamb
  • 1 large onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp turmeric or ¼ tsp saffron
  • 1 small piece of cinnamon
  • 1 star anise
  • 2 ripe tomatoes
  • About 500 ml of vegetable stock
  • 100 ml red wine optional
  • 1 handful of raisins
  • ½ red pepper or 1 chilli pepper
  • 1 tin of beans such as cannellini
  • 2 large handfuls of spinach or chopped kale
  • Chopped mint to serve

Method
 

  1. Cut the lamb into bite-sized chunks. Season with salt.
  2. Finely slice the onion and garlic.
  3. Heat a Tbspful of oil in a large casserole dish and fry the lamb until it changes colour.
  4. Transfer the meat to a plate and clean out the pan.
  5. Heat another spoonful of oil and gently sauté the onion and garlic (under cover and on low temperature) until soft and translucent.
  6. Meanwhile chop the carrots and tomatoes.
  7. Add the carrots and tomatoes to the onion then the powdered spices and stir for a minute or so until fragrant.
  8. Add the stock, wine, raisins, cinnamon, star anise and the pepper/chilli. Add more stock if the meat is not completely covered. Bring to the boil then put the lid on and gently simmer for about an hour over low heat.
  9. Take out the pepper, star anise and cinnamon piece - discard these.
  10. Drain the beans and add to the stew. Cook for about 10 minutes – if the stew is not thick enough, turn up the heat to reduce the sauce ( don’t put the lid back on).
  11. Add the spinach/kale and cook for 3-5 minutes.
  12. Serve with rice or flat bread.