This sweet, meltingly-tender Persian-inspired lamb stew is really easy and makes for a delicious, warming meal for family and friends. Lamb neck fillet is economical and extremely tasty, and the pomegranate seeds and herbs give this dish a really fresh twist. There’s a great range of lamb neck fillet recipes on the Great British Chef website.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 750g lamb neck fillet
- vegetable oil
- 2 medium white onions, sliced
- 75g dates, pitted and roughly chopped
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 4 green cardamon pods, crushed
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1-2 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
- 500ml chicken stock
- 250g couscous
- 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
- zest of 1 lemon
- seeds from 1 fresh pomegranate
- mint leaves, roughly chopped
- coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- mixed greens (whichever you prefer)
Method
- In a large casserole dish, start making the lamb stew by browning the lamb all over in a little oil.
- Add the onions and cook gently until the onions start to go golden.
- Add all the spices (cinnamon, cumin, cardamon, sweet paprika) and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock, chopped dates and tomato puree and mix well.
- Pop the lid on the dish and leave to simmer gently for 1-1.5 hours, or until the meat is nice and tender.
- 10 minutes before serving, cook the couscous, then mix in the chickpeas, lemon zest and most of the chopped mint/coriander, leaving a little fresh herbs to garnish.
- Steam the greens.
- Serve the stew with the couscous and greens, topped with fresh pomegranate seeds and the mint/coriander leaves.