This is a great meal to prepare either in the morning, or the evening before you need it.
You could probably do the whole cooking process in your thermomix, but I liked the idea of slow cooking in the oven (and it worked perfectly to put it in the oven then take the kids to swimming lessons – when we got home dinner was cooked!).
The lamb just melts in your mouth, and the apricots and dates are nice mix to give a bit of sweetness to the whole dish.
As I was typing out this recipe I realised I forgot to add the chickpeas to my casserole!
Oops!! I don’t think it mattered too much, and truth be told the kids where probably happy about it, but I definitely would have liked them in there!!
Also, don’t be put off by the number of ingredients and the length of the method – this really is a quick and simple dish – especially if prepared earlier in the day.
The initial preparation takes less than 30 minutes, then you simply place it in the oven for about 1 ½ hours.
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1cm piece of ginger
- 20g olive oil
- 500g diced lamb
- 1 tablespoon Moroccan seasoning
- 1 orange
- 300ml water
- 2 teaspoons stock concentrate
- 400g can chickpeas, drained
- 70g dried apricot
- 70g pitted dates
- 150g green beans
- 35g pistachios
- fresh coriander
- 1 cup couscous
- 2 teaspoons stock concentrate (extra)
- natural yoghurt to serve
Method
Pre heat oven to 160°C if you are cooking it now, or if this is being prepared in the morning pre heat oven as needed
Place apricots and dates in thermomix bowl and chop 3 seconds on speed 5. Set aside
Place pistachios in bowl and chop 2 seconds on speed 6. Set aside
Peel half of the orange and place rind in bowl and grate 5 seconds on speed 9. Set aside
Place onion, garlic and ginger in bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7
Scrape down sides of bowl, add oil and saute for 3 minutes at 100°C on speed 1
While the onion mix is sauteing, use a bowl to coat lamb in Moroccan seasoning
Add lamb to thermomix bowl and cook for 6 minutes at100°C on reverse speed 1
Juice orange, and add juice, grated orange rind, water and stock concentrate and cook for a further 6 minutes at 100°C on reverse speed 1
Place contents in a covered oven-proof casserole dish and either place in oven if cooking straight away, or allow to cool and place in the fridge.
When placed in the oven, cook for approximately 1 ¼ hours.
Add apricots, dates, green beans and chickpeas and cook in oven for a further 15 minutes.
While this is happening, boil kettle and place couscous in a bowl and add extra stock concentrate with 1 cup of boiling water.
Stir, then cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork
To serve, sprinkle with chopped pistachios and coriander, and add a spoonful of natural yoghurt to each plate.
Serves: 4
Approximate calories per serve: 720
