cute kitchen

This one might be hard to decipher from the photo but it is YUM-MY so I’ll break it up for you: Autumn slow cooked lamb, roasted pumpkin and mushrooms with melted feta pieces, orange and coriander cous-cous. This was dinner tonight and no one (!) was disappointed!

I know the lamb takes a bit longer to cook in this recipe but for the most part it’s in the oven and you can just ignore it! Cook the cous-cous by instructions on the packet and then just stir through orange juice and coriander leaves. The pumpkin and mushroom are easy to cook in the oven and won’t disappoint. Together? A flavour bomb!

Ingredients for 4 good eaters

1 Kg lamb shoulder, meat cut into a little bit bigger than bite-size pieces

2 red onions, finely cubed

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

A big chunk of ginger, cut into very thin slices (should look like matchsticks)

2 glasses of chickpeas (460g in total after being drained)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. cardamom powder

2 cinnamon sticks

200g Pflaumenmuss (German spiced plum jam, or just plum jam with a high fruit content (70% or more) will do)

1 Kg tinned tomatoes

800ml vegetable stock

10 sprigs of thyme

1 orange, organic and washed well with hot water

1 lemon, organic and washed well with hot water

Cous-Cous

Coriander leaves (15g)

1 butternut pumpkin, cut into wedges

300g oyster mushrooms, cut into rough chunks

200g feta

Olive oil

Maple syrup

• In a large saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp. olive oil until hot. Sear the lamb pieces in the oil until nicely brown. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius (fan bake).

• Add the chopped red onions, garlic and ginger. Fry on a medium high heat for a few minutes until softened.

• Add the drained chickpeas plus the 3 different spice powders and the cinnamon sticks. Stir well for a couple of minutes until everything is well coated.

• Add the tomatoes, stock and plum jam to the pot. Stir well and then bring to the boil.

• Add the leaves from 10 thyme stalks. Skin half of an orange (just the rind and not the white pith). Try to skin it into thickish strips, add to the pot.

• Remove the pot from the heat, place into the heated up oven and cook for two and a half hours, stirring every 30-45 minutes to avoid sticking. At the end of the cooking time, remove the pot and season carefully with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Increase the oven heat to 200.

• On a baking tray place the pumpkin wedges and oyster mushrooms. Drizzle everything liberally with olive oil and drizzle only the pumpkin carefully with a bit of maple syrup. Sprinkle cinnamon on the pumpkin (with a sieve).

• Juice the skinned orange and one lemon. Reserve 2 Tbsp. of the juice for the cous-cous, drizzle the rest over the mushrooms. Sprinkle everything with salt and pepper.

• Bake for 25-30 minutes. In the last 10 minutes, crumble feta over the vegetables and allow to melt and crisp up a bit before the baking time is up.

• Make your cous-cous, stirring the 2 Tbsp. of orange-lemon juice mix, plus 2 Tbsp. olive oil in and mixing well with a fork. Chop the coriander leaves and stir them through.

• Serve everything together and watch how fast the food disappears from the table! The perfect dish to be shared with loved ones around a well-lit, cosy dinner table ❤️