Prep and cook time: 2 hours
Serves: 4
Ingredients
750g pack British lamb boneless roasting shoulder joint
2 tablespoons plain flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, finely sliced
4 sticks of celery, finely sliced
Half a stick of cinnamon
100g walnuts, chopped
2 bay leaves
6 pomegranates
20g pack flat leaf parsley, chopped
Method
Cut the lamb into thumb-sized cubes and toss in the flour with a teaspoon of sea
salt and black pepper. Heat a large pan and add the olive oil. When the oil starts
to smoke, add as many lamb pieces as will fit in one layer, cover with a lid and
cook forafewminutes untilsoftandbrownedevenly.When colouredon allsides,
removefromthepan. Repeatwiththeremainingcubesuntiltheyareallbrowned.
Return all the lamb to the pan and turn the heat down. Add the onion, celery,
garlic,cinnamon,walnutsandbayleavestothepan. Putthelidonandcookvery
gently for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is softened, stirring often to make sure
nothing sticks. Cut your pomegranates in half and juice them as you would an
orange or lemon. You should get 500ml or so of bright pink juice (if you can't find
pomegranates, cranberry juice works well instead). Add the juice to the lamb,
reserving some pomegranate seeds. Top up with water to cover. Simmer very
gently for 1 1/2 hours, or until the lamb is tender, adding a little water now and
then if the stew gets dry. Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves and
discard. Season to taste and sprinkle with the parsley and pomegranate seeds.
Serve with steaming hot saffron rice.
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