SPANISH LAMB WITH SHERRY, HONEY & PEPPERS

Spanish lamb with sherry, honey & peppers image

Open a bottle of sherry for this hearty lamb casserole, rich with sweet and savoury flavours. However, if you don't have saffron, just leave it out

Provided by Diana Henry

Time 2h45m

Number Of Ingredients 15

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
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
1½ tbsp honey
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley , or chopped toasted blanched almonds
cooked couscous , to serve

Steps:

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.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 507 calories, Fat 32 grams fat, SaturatedFat 14 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 12 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 11 grams sugar, Fiber 3 grams fiber, Protein 32 grams protein, Sodium 0.3 milligram of sodium