Moroccan lamb stew with apricots, almonds & mint

I know that stews are not the most photogenic of dishes, but I could not resist sharing this one with you.  I made it few weeks ago for Sunday dinner and fell in love with it. This is one of those dishes that are perfect for cold winter evenings or grey rainy days to warm you up and comfort you.

A funny thing was that whilst I was making this dish, all I could think of how this would have been a lovely thing to make in my midnight blue Le Creuset cast iron casserole dish that my father gave me (but it would have been a bit too heavy to bring with me all the way from London to Singapore), so I'm really looking forward to the next winter that I'll be spending back home as then I'll get to make this in my lovely new casserole. I've never made anything in that casserole and this would have been a perfect first dish for it... Enough about my love for my new casserole, back to the lamb.

Something that I really appreciate about stews is that they actually take so little time prepare and whilst they're cooking you can do something else, and as a student this extra bit of time is invaluable. Also, with most of them, the longer you cook them the more tender and delicious they become (so feel free to let your lamb stew for longer than 60 minutes at first, but don't extend the last 30 minutes after adding apricots as otherwise they'll just dissolve). This was my second time to cook lamb and at first I was a bit sceptical as to how it would all turn out, but in the end it all worked out fine - the lamb just fell apart and was so tender. I had the leftovers for lunch the following Monday and to be honest, it was even better on the second day (but most of stews are). The second time I had it with quinoa and I can assure you that it was really nice both with brown rice and quinoa.

So, this is one quick and easy, but at the same time, delicious recipes - the fruitiness of apricots, combined with almonds and mint create a really warming and exotic combination to go with the lamb and for a split second make you forget about the cold and rain and make you feel like you're somewhere in Morocco....


Ingredients
(Serves 4)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 550g lean lamb, cubed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 700ml lamb or chicken stock
- Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp clear honey
- 175g dried apricots
- 3 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
- 25g ground almonds
- 25g toasted flaked almonds
- Salt
- Pepper
- Brown rice (or quinoa or couscous) to serve

Directions
Heat the oil in a large casserole and add the lamb and cook over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes until evenly browned, stirring often. Remove the lamb to a plate and set aside.

Place the onion and garlic into the casserole and cook on a gentle heat for 5 minutes until softened. Then return the lamb to the pot, add the stock, zest, juice, cinnamon stick, honey, salt and pepper. Bring  it to boil and then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Add the apricots and 2 tbsp of mint and cook for further 30 minutes until the lamb is tender and prepare the rice (or quinoa or couscous). Stir in the ground almonds to thicken the sauce. Serve with remaining mint and toasted almonds scattered over the top.

Recipe from BBC Good Food