Lamb & Chickpea Pilaf
I've made a few versions of this dish and it never disappoints. There is so much flavour that you could leave out the lamb all together, but admittedly, that is my favourite part!
It keeps really well for the next day, so great for lunch and it's east to double the recipe so you can feed a lot of people with what looks to be a complicated dish, but isnt ;).
I add wild rice, but you don't have to, it's just for looks and a different texture.
All up it takes about 15 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook, so great for weeknights.
Ingredients
500g chopped lamb fillet
2 Tbs olive oil
1 brown onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp finely grated ginger
1 Tbs Ras El Hanout (Moroccan spice mix)
1 cup basmati rice
1/4 wild rice (optional, otherwise use basmati again)
400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 chopped parsley
juice of half a lemon to serve
Method
Season and brown the lamb, in batches using the oil and set aside.
Cook the chopped onion on medium heat for 4 minutes, until tender. Add the garlic, ginger and spice mix for 1 minute then add the rice and stir to coat grains. Add stock and bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked.
Add the apricots, chickpeas and lamb and cook for further 10-15 minutes until rice is done.
Stir through parsley and squeeze over the lemon juice and serve.
Tips
The wild rice will take longer to cook, so add the lamp and chickpeas and cook for another 10 minutes or until the wild rice is ready.
You can also either leave the lamb out or stir it in, in the last minute after keeping some of the rice aside, if you feel like a vego version.
