Slow Cooked Lamb & Chickpea Stew

Ingredients

• 800 g diced lamb shoulder, cut into 3cm pieces
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp ras el hanout
• 400 ml lamb stock
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 preserved lemon quarters, flesh discarded, rind finely sliced
• 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn, to serve
• Warm pitta bread, to serve
• toasted flaked almonds, to serve

Method

1. Pat the lamb dry on kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no browning. Season generously with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based casserole over a high heat until it shimmers.
2. Brown the lamb in two batches, leaving each piece undisturbed for 2–3 minutes per side until deeply caught and mahogany. Don't crowd the pan — all at once and the meat boils in its own juices instead of building the fond you'll deglaze later. Transfer to a plate.
3. Lower the heat to medium and add the onion and grated carrot to the same pan, scraping up the brown stuck bits as they release. Cook for 6–8 minutes until softened and starting to catch at the edges. Add the sliced garlic and cook for just 30 seconds until fragrant — burnt garlic turns the whole stew bitter, so watch it.
4. Tip in the ras el hanout, cumin and cinnamon and bloom them through the onion for a full 1–2 minutes until the kitchen smells warm and resinous. Raw spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for another minute to take the rawness off.
5. Return the lamb and any resting juices to the pan. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and lamb stock — the stock is what breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of fruit, not tin. Scatter in the rinsed red lentils and the sliced preserved lemon rind. Bring up to a steady simmer.
6. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook on the lowest heat your hob will hold for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes or so to stop the lentils catching on the base. The lamb should be tender but still holding its shape, and the sauce noticeably thickened.
7. Stir in the drained chickpeas and continue cooking uncovered for a further 25–30 minutes until the sauce is glossy and deep red and the lamb is completely yielding to a spoon.
8. Taste, season, taste again — preserved lemon can be salty, so adjust now, not at the table. Ladle into bowls, scatter generously with the torn parsley, and serve with warm flatbreads or fluffy couscous alongside.