Lamb and Chickpea Chilli with Freekeh
A lightly spiced, warming chilli full of nutritious grains.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g minced lamb
- 2 spring onions
- 1 garlic clove chopped
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ras el hanout
- 1 tbsp fresh mint chopped
- 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 400 g tin of chickpeas
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 bay leaf
- 400 ml water
- 100 g freekeh
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 200° /180 fan. Brown the lamb in the hot oil in a casserole pot.
- Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the spices and combine.
- Add the spring onions a long with the tin of tomatoes and chickpeas, bay leaf, water, tomato puree and mint. Give it all a good stir. Leave to simmer for 5 mins.
- Place a lid on the casserole pot and cook in the oven for 50 minutes. Add the freekeh, stir and cook for a further 10 minutes. Serve with rice or couscous.
Notes
Don't have any ras el hanout? You can make your own with black pepper, coriander, ginger, smoked paprika, all-spice, cardamon, mace, nutmeg, turmeric, cayenne, cloves and rose petals. You don't really need the rose petals!
Freekeh - I use this Greenwheat Freekeh from Artisan Grains but any freekeh will do!
Aga cooking - all my recipes are tested and made on an Aga however I always adapt the method for a conventional oven. If you're an Aga owner however, you can follow the recipe as is, using a suitable casserole pot on the boiling plate (not the portmerian one like I did, which ended up smashing!!) Cook in the roasting oven for the time stated in the method (50 + 10 mins).
Slow-cooker - this recipe is suitable for the slow-cooker as it used to be a recipe for that method! It's recently been updated you see! Cook as above, 7 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
Leftovers - chilli leftovers would go so well on a jacket potato for lunch or over fries for a an all-American twist like my recipe for sweet potato chilli cheese fries. See below before re-heating.
Reheating - you should ensure you reheat this dish until piping hot! Never, ever re-heat twice.
Storage - you can store leftovers in a well-sealed container in a fridge for 2 days.
Freezing - I'd recommend only freezing for up to 3 months. Ensure the container is well-sealed so you don't risk freezer burn on the food.