Leftover Roast Lamb, Chickpea and BNS Tagine

Doing a slow roast shoulder of lamb is an event, but we all know it’s always the after-party that we’ll talk about for months after. This warm, spicy lamb tagine is the perfect second act to follow a more traditional ‘meat and two veg’ Sunday roast. And makes the most of leftovers! The warm Moroccan spices, the gentle heat from the ginger and the pockets of sweetness from the dried fruit and BNS all combine to make a fabulously exotic, but still comforting, midweek meal.

This recipe reflects my (current) personal beliefs on meat consumption - Treat it as something to have occasionally, eat homegrown meat (if possible) or buy the highest welfare and best quality we can afford, use every bit of the meat, mix it will plant proteins and vegetables to stretch it out and make the most of the flavour. Simple things like making stock from chicken bones, adding tins of beans, lentils and chickpeas and freezing leftovers to avoid waste all help you get the most bang for your buck.

Serves 6

** These quantities are pretty flexible, feel free to use what you have in terms of veg, amount of leftover lamb and how many or what tins of chickpeas of beans you use! **

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves

1-inch piece of ginger

1 big carrot ( Sub ; onion, celery)

Olive oil – 1 tbs

1 small butternut squash or half a large one ( peeled and cubed weight approx. 240g) ( Sub sweet potatoes)

200g Leftover roast lamb – cut into 1-inch pieces if needed

2 Tins of Chickpeas ( Sub : butter beans/ white beans)

2 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Ground coriander

1 tbsp Ras el hanout ( Moroccan spice blend)

Handful of Dried apricots or nectarines or raisins

1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes

Handful of Fresh coriander or parsley leaves

Method

Finely chop the garlic, ginger and carrots.

Heat the oil in a casserole-type dish / deep pan with a lid on low heat and fry the garlic, ginger and carrots for 5 minutes.

While that’s cooking peel and cube the butternut squash into ½ inch pieces. Add to the pan, pop the lid on and cook for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it, keep it on a low heat and add a splash of water if it starts to stick.

Sort your leftover meat, cut off any fat, and chop it into pieces as required. Chop the dried apricots and cut the apricots/nectarines into 4 or 8 pieces. Open the tin of chickpeas, rinse and drain.

Once the ten minutes is up, add the meat to the pan alongside the cumin, coriander, ras el hanout, chickpeas and dried fruit. Stir well and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes and mix well. Half-fill the empty tin with water, swirl and add. Mix well to combine everything.

Simmer for 35 minutes with the lid on over a low heat. Check every 10 -15 minutes and add more water if it’s too thick.  

Top with the coriander or parsley leave just before serving.