Slow-Baked Lamb and Aubergine with Apricot Bulgur
Tender lamb shoulder, soft aubergine and sweet apricots bake into a rich tomato broth, with bulgur and chickpeas stirred in at the end to make it a proper one-pot dinner.
Ingredients
Serves 4- 2 tbspolive oil
- 650glamb shoulder, cut into 3cm pieces
- 2aubergines, cut into 3cm chunks
- 1large onion, finely chopped
- 2carrots, coarsely grated
- 3garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tspground cumin
- 2 tbsptomato purée
- 120gdried apricots, halved
- 1× 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 500mlchicken stock
- 240gdrained chickpeas (about 1 × 400g tin), rinsed
- 220gbulgur wheat
- Fine salt
- Black pepper
- 200gGreek yoghurt (optional)
- 30mllemon juice (optional)
- 2gfinely grated lemon zest (optional)
- 15gmint leaves, torn into small pieces (optional)
Method
- Heat the oven to 160°C fan. Prepare the vegetables and apricots first, then cut the lamb on the same board and wash it straight away.
- Heat the olive oil in a large lidded casserole over a medium-high heat. Brown the lamb in 2 batches for 8 minutes per batch until deeply coloured all over, then lift it onto a plate.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the aubergine, onion and grated carrot. Cook for 8 minutes until the aubergine is catching at the edges and the onion has softened.
- Add the garlic, cumin and tomato purée. Cook for 1 minute until the purée has darkened and smells rich rather than raw.
- Return the lamb and any juices to the casserole. Add the apricots, chopped tomatoes and stock, season with salt and black pepper, then bring to a gentle bubble.
- Cover and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, then check the lamb. Continue in 15-minute intervals if needed, adding a splash of hot water if the pan is drying out, until the lamb is tender enough to yield easily when pressed with a spoon and the aubergine is soft.
- Stir in the chickpeas and bulgur wheat. Add enough boiling water to bring the liquid just above the grains, then stir so they are submerged. Cover again and bake for 20 minutes until the bulgur is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
- While the bulgur cooks, make the optional yoghurt by stirring the Greek yoghurt with the lemon zest, lemon juice and torn mint. Leave the casserole, covered, for 10 minutes until the bulgur is fluffy and the broth has thickened around it. Spoon into bowls with the optional lemon-mint yoghurt alongside, if using.
Per serving
- kcal
- 968
- protein
- 43.2g
- fibre
- 20.7g
- carbs
- 95.5g
- fat
- 48.7g
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