, Step by step

Ras el Hanout spiced lamb with Lebanese brown rice

Try this as an alternative to Sunday lunch.

Mark Stower, Director of Food and Service.

Preparation Time: 25 mins

Cooking Time: 260 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Lamb shoulder, boneless
1 tsp Ras el Hanout spice
1 onion, cut into large chunks
1 large carrot, cut into large chunks
1 ltr chicken stock
1 garlic clove, crushed
200g brown rice
100g white rice
Olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
100g diced squash
100g cooked chickpeas
½ bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
½ bunch coriander, finely chopped

Method

Step 1

Rub the lamb with the Ras el Hanout spice and leave to marinade over night.
Step 2

Place the chunks of onion and carrot onto a roasting tray. Seal the lamb on the stove to give a nice brown colour and then transfer to the roasting tray. Cover with the chicken stock and garlic and place in the oven at 140°C for 3 hours until tender. Drain the juices and reserve for later.
Step 3

Boil the brown rice for 1 hour or until tender then refresh under water and keep to one side. Cook the white rice for 20 minutes or until tender and then mix together with the brown rice.
Step 4

Sauté the chopped shallot in a little olive oil, add the squash and chickpeas and then cook until tender.
Step 5

Now add the reheated rice, 100ml of the lamb juice, chopped parsley and coriander and mix together. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 6

Serve in bowls with the carved lamb on top and drizzle with some more of the lamb juice.

Nutrition

Mark’s lovely lamb dish month uses an unusual spice mix and an interesting mixture of brown and white rice.

Ras-el-hanout is one of the classic North African spice mixtures used in Moroccan dishes, translated from Arabic as ‘head’ or ‘top of the shop’, to indicate the expensive nature of its ingredients.

Mixtures vary depending on region and supplier but contain a dozen or more different spices, including dried chili peppers, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, coriander, fennel and some contain slightly more unusual ingredients such as lavender and rosebuds.

Brown or wholegrain rice has a lovely nutty flavor and although taking slightly longer to cook than white rice it’s definitely worthwhile.

Wholegrain rice contains the outer bran layer of the rice grain – not just the starchy interior as in white rice. It therefore contains more fibre, vitamin E, and minerals such as iron, magnesium and potassium.

The best sort or brown rice to look for is wholegrain basmati rice, which has the nutritional benefits of both basmati and wholegrain rice. Basmati rice has a lower GI because the structure of the starch is slightly different from other types of rice so that it is broken down more slowly and causes a slower rise in blood sugar, which is generally a good thing.

DR JULIET GRAY, COMPANY NUTRITIONIST