Spanish Lamb with sherry, honey & peppers
Spanish Lamb with Sherry - Beautiful tasty Lamb casserole, rich with sweet and savoury flavours
PREP: 15 MINS
COOK: 2 HRS, 30 MINS
SERVES 4 - 6
INGREDIENTS
- 1kg Lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat, then cubed
- 1½ tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 large Onion, roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper, halved, deseeded and sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, halved, deseeded and sliced
- 1 green pepper, halved, deseeded and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, grated to a purée
- ½ tsp Paprika
- 250ml medium sherry
- 250ml lamb stock
- generous pinch of saffron threads (if you don't have saffron, just leave it out)
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 1½ tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley or chopped toasted blanched almonds
- serve with cooked couscous
Spanish lamb with Sherry
METHOD
Make sure your lamb isn’t too damp – pat it dry with kitchen paper if you need to, otherwise it won’t colour well. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large casserole dish and brown the lamb over a high heat in batches (if you crowd the pan the meat will sweat and not brown). Remove with a slotted spoon as you go. When all the lamb is browned, add the remaining oil and cook the onion and peppers over a medium heat until the onion is golden and the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic and paprika, and cook for a further 1 min, then add the sherry and bring to a simmer.
Put all the lamb back in the pan, along with the stock, saffron, sherry vinegar and honey. Season and bring to just under the boil. Turn the heat down, cover the pan and leave to cook very gently for 2 hrs, turning the meat every so often.
In the last half hour of cooking time, remove the lid so that the sherry and stock can reduce. You want to end up with completely tender meat in a flavoursome gravy – how long this takes will depend on how wide your pan is so you may need to give it longer than 30 mins. Check the seasoning. You’re unlikely to need to adjust the vinegar or honey but you might want to sweeten the dish slightly. Scatter the parsley or almonds on top (or use both). Serve with the couscous.
Couscous
Precooked couscous – where you only have to add boiling water to create light fluffy grains – is readily available from supermarkets and is very quick and convenient. Pour 1½ cups of lightly salted boiling water or stock over 1 cup couscous. Cover with a plate or reusable lid, and allow the couscous to swell for 5 minutes. Fluff up couscous with a fork and add butter and spices if desired.
For a simple buttery couscous warm cooked couscous dotted with butter in the oven so the butter melts into the grains.
