LAMB WITH PEPPERS

I have been woefully neglectful of my blog for some time. You know how it is – work gets frantic, personal life take an unexpected turn, suddenly life is taking up far more time than it should do. But I think we’re over the worst now (fingers crossed) and I was delighted to have my mate Tony (aka The Skint Foodie) over for a Spanish-stylee dinner a couple of Saturdays ago.  

I turned to Rick Stein’s Spain and Claudia Roden’s new tome for inspiration. I didn’t want to do jamon, tortilla, albondigas and croquetas but something slightly different with maybe a couple of favourites thrown in.  The first dish I would like to share with you is inspired by Rick Stein’s Slow Braised Lamb with fresh and dried peppers  – we had this as a main course with a soupy vegetable dish of artichokes, peas and broad beans in a thickened chicken stock. There wasn’t much left, so it must have been alright. It is supposed to be quite a chilli hot dish so don’t spare the hot smoked paprika.

Slow Cooked Lamb with Peppers 

Serves 4 

1 kg neck fillet

1 tblsp hot smoked paprika

2 tblsp olive oil

2 medium onions sliced finely

4 garlic cloves finely sliced

1 tblsp hot smoked paprika

75g Serrano ham, finely chopped

Can of tinned tomatoes, chopped

1 tblsp fresh thyme leaves

4 bay leaves

2 large roasted skinned peppers from a jar (or DIY), chopped

1 tblsp. chopped flat  

Cut the lamb into bit sized chunks then toss in the sweet paprika and leave for an hour or so out of the fridge. Heat the oil then fry off the lamb in batches so that it gets a nice brown, slightly crispy, coat. Take out of the pan and put to one side. 

Add the onions and garlic to the oil and sauté slowly until soft and golden brown. Add the paprika and Serrano ham and cook gently for a further five minutes. Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and pepper. Bring to a simmer, add the lamb, and braise for 45 minutes.  

Add more hot smoked paprika if not hot enough for you, sprinkle with the parsley and serve. I served it with vegetables cooked in a chicken broth, which suited the dish very well.....