oh my word, made the most delicious lamb casserole on the weekend...

[OhBling]

If anyone is interested, I can provide full exact recipe but in a nutshell:

Lamb shoulder cut into chunks (not too generous per person) browned and removed to a casserole/baking dish.

Then add chopped onions and garlic, fry for a minute then add about a teaspoon each of cumin and coriander, then a bit of flour, which once absorbed pour in (slowly) one cup cup stock and a tin chopped tomatoes and half a cup wine (which I'd added together). When boiling, add a tablespoon of honey, a tablespoon of tomatoe paste, a stick of cinnamon and a couple of bay leaves.

Pour over the lamb with one small chopped and peeled butternut, cover and put in oven at 160 for 75 minutes. Then open, stir and put in a tin of drained chickpeas and cook again for 30 minutes.

Oh my word. Meat was tender. Sauce was sticky and delicious. And definitely felt that the 380g of meat could easily have done three people rather.

[the butternut almost disappears, so if you prefer chunks I guess you could put it in with the chickpeas and cook for a bit longer]

It really is great (and sorry to King - I haven't got around to posting the chickpea curry recipe - will do soon, I promise). Last night we enjoyed the butternut and butterbean soup - delicious!

The lentil soup was also good.

I'm not sure it will be as yummy for summer foods so it's a good thing I live in England!

thanks. I bought my butternut squash and chickpeas today to make the dish.

Will let you know how it goes.

KingCanute: here's the chickpea curry recipe I promised you:[note, not that curryish - but delicious nonetheless].

30ml oil
1 large onion, finely chocpped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 yellow pepper, seeded and sliced
20 ml curry powder
5 ml each ground cumin and coriander
2 ml each ground cinnamon and turmeric
500 g really ripe tomoatoes,skinned and chopped (not tinned)
375 ml vegetable stock
15ml tomato paste
2 bay leaves
salt
trickle of runny hunny
3 cups cooked chicpeas or 2x 400 g cans, drained and rinsed
a handful of chopped fresh parsley
toasted cashe nuts, chopped, for toppping (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, garlic and yellow pepper and when softening, add the spices. Stir briefly to release the flavours, adding, if necessary, a dash of water to prevent scorching. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the cashews, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer very gently for about 35 minutes. Stir occasionally to mash up the tomatoes. Check seasoning and if the sauce needs thickening, tilt the lid of the saucean for the last few minutes. Remove the bay leaves, spoon into a serving dish and top with cashews.

The recipe recommends serving it with a mango and mint raita:
mix 250ml thick bulgarian yoghurt, a few chopped spring nions, a pinch of salt, about 125ml diced, ripe mango and shredded fresh mint leaves (about 12) in a small bowl. Cover and refridgerate while the curry cooks. Just before serving, sprinkle with garam masala.

But I didn't bother - I served it with homemade tzatiki. which was also delicious.

Lovely; was wanting to use up the chickpeas in the cupboard somehow! I added sweet potato and carrots and did it on the stove top for about an hour as I was in a bit of a hurry.
Thanks for giving us a new staple go-to dinner!

Just wanted to say that I made the Lamb casserole type thing tonight and it was lovely

I added a small spoonful of harissa paste which gave it a bit more spice.

Thanks for that!

Oops, I meant to clarify; it was the lamb one I made. Harissa sounds good too.