The ‘holy trinity’ stew
This stew is in Mumsnet Towers’ all-time Top Ten. It ticks all the boxes of a chart topper. Delicious? Yes. Easy? Yes. Looks harder than it is? Ye-e-s. So it is obvious why we cook this all the time. The lamb, butternut squash and chickpeas work so perfectly together that we have nicknamed this The Holy Trinity. Amen.
Serves 6 adults
Glug of olive oil
1kg lamb shoulder, cut into chunky cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp plain flour
125ml red wine
250ml beef or lamb stock
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 bay leaf
Small butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped
400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/gas mark 3.
- In a casserole dish over a medium heat, heat the oil, then brown the lamb. You may need to do this in batches; don’t crowd the pan, or the meat will stew and not brown properly. Remove the meat to a plate with a slotted spoon and repeat until it has all been browned.
- Using the same casserole dish, lightly fry the onion and garlic in the juices left over from the meat, adding more oil if needed.
- Once the onion has softened, stir in the spices and then the flour until it is absorbed. Slowly add the wine and stock, stirring as you go, before adding the tomatoes.
- Now you just need to wait for the mixture to boil, before stirring in the honey, tomato purée and bay leaf. (Use sugar instead of honey if you are serving this to very young children less than one year old.) Return the lamb and add the squash. Put the lid on and place in the oven to cook for 75 minutes.
- Pour in the chickpeas, give it all a good stir, put the lid back on and cook for another 30 minutes.
- Fish out the cinnamon stick and serve with crusty bread.
Freezable
The health bit
The clever thing about adding tins of chickpeas, lentils and beans to stews, casseroles and soups is that it’s a foolproof way to boost the nutritional value, adding protein, B vitamins and dietary fibre. It also makes them stretch to feed more people… always a bonus.
The ‘holy trinity’ stew >