Rich Minty Lamb Stew

Here's another lamb dish to follow on from Alexander's delicious one below.

Both Spinneys and Park'N Shop have marinated lamb kebabs in a sweetish mint sauce. They are supposed to be grilled obviously but I don’t think the quality of meat is good enough for grilling and I find that they are always quite tough. However, I have now found another use for them!

The marinade is quite sweet and very minty but they really do make a great tasting rich stew.

I have taken to adding anchovies to anything to do with lamb, I find it really seems to bring out the best of the lamb's flavours. I know it seems a really strange combination, and god alone knows what inspired the first person to give it a go, but I promise you it is a marriage made in heaven. Whenever I roast a lamb leg I stab it all over and insert slivers of garlic, sprigs of rosemary and anchovy filets into all the little holes and it tastes fantastic! Trust me, I'm in insurance.


You will need:

4 skewers of marinanded minty lamb
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 medium tomatoes
3 anchovy fillets
100ml red wine
100ml beef or lamb stock
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp tomato paste
Handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
½ tsp pimento
Pinch oregano


And then you need to:

Preheat oven to 400F/200C

In a heavy based casserole dish over a low heat glug in some EV olive oil and add the onions, garlic and carrots with a pinch of salt and the fennel seeds. Leave to gently sweat for about 5 mins.

Meanwhile put the tomatoes in a glass bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave for about a minute, then remove and slip off the skins. Cut into quarters, remove the pith and seeds (discard) and then chop the flesh into small pieces. Add to the casserole dish.

Once the tomatoes have broken down into a bit of a paste remove the lamb cubes from the wooden skewers and throw into the pot.

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a gentle boil. Once it is gently simmering place in oven and leave with lid on for at least an hour, but longer is much more betterer. Give it a stir every so often and if it looks to be drying out a bit pour in a little boiling water.

It really is as simple as that.

Serve with peas or French beans and some lovely garlicky roasted new potatoes with their skin on.