Lamb, Eggplant & Tomato Stew
This is my kind of summer stew. The combination of Middle Easter spices with homegrown ingredients like eggplant, tomatoes and local lamb make for one heck of a mid summer meal! The warming spices of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and allspice come together to coat lamb stew meat, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and chickpeas. The end result is a rich and comforting stew that the whole family will love. Serve this with some crusty bread and a side of rice, a healthy dollop of yogurt, plenty of parsley and fresh lemon for a perfect mid summer meal.
Lamb Eggplant & Tomato Stew
Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours Serves: 4-6
- 1 1/2 pounds lamb stew meat
- salt and pepper
- 2 Tablespoon olive oil, ghee or butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, diced
- 1 medium-sized eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
- 1 medium-size zucchini, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
- 1 (14 ounce) jar diced tomatoes
- 1 pint (about 2 cups) cherry tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- fat pinch of salt
- 3 1/2 cups beef or lamb stock
- 1 1/2 cups chickpeas
- 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
- parsley for serving
- white rice for serving
- Greek yogurt for serving
- fresh lemon wedges
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- In a large bowl pat dry the stew meat and toss with salt and pepper. Keep to the side.
- In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat add some olive oil or ghee. Once melted add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, eggplant and zucchini and continue to cook, until the veggies brown up a bit on the edges, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon remove the veggies to a large bowl and keep to the side.
- Heat a little more oil or ghee in the same pot. Add the stew meat and brown on all sides. This will take a few minutes per side of the meat. Once golden brown return the veggies back to the pot. Add the jarred tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, spices, salt and beef broth. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Cover the pan and place it in the pre-heated oven. Cook in the oven for 2 hours. After 2 hours remove from the oven and stir in the chickpeas and apricots. Return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes.
- Serve with minced parsley, rice, yogurt and a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Notes
*Use this recipe as a guide and adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary
Do the apricots go in at the same time as the chickpeas? I do not see them in the recipe.
They do! I will update that. Thank you for the catch!
Hi! That looks yummy. Could I freeze any leftover you think?
I’m sure you could freeze this! I haven’t personally tried this particular recipe but I freeze a lot of soups and I think this would be just fine!