Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
600g lamb shoulder
diced
2 onions
diced
1 carrot
diced
3 cloves garlic
diced or finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
140g tomato paste
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
50g quince paste
diced
400ml boiling water
for ragu
salt and pepper
to taste
fresh oregano leaves
to serve
2 tbsp olive oil
for rice
2 bay leaves
1 tsp allspice
1.5L boiling water
for rice
2 cups brown basmati rice
50g butter
diced
¼ cup crushed walnuts
toasted
100g feta cheese
roughly chopped
Equipment
- 1 Heavy-based saucepan (oven-proof recommended)
- 1 Serving bowl
Instructions
- For the Ragu: Preheat the oven to 160°C or 140°C fan forced.
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat and brown the lamb in batches until golden brown on each side. Set aside and season to taste.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add a little more olive oil if needed. Cook one diced onion and the carrot for about five minutes, or until soft.
- Add 2 cloves of diced garlic and the dried oregano, cook for another minute. Then add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, quince paste and 400ml boiling water. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir well and bring to a gentle boil. Place in the oven for 2 hours or until nice and tender.
- For the Baked Brown Rice: Preheat the oven to 200°C or 180° fan forced.
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat and cook one diced onion and 1 finely chopped garlic clove for a few minutes or until soft and translucent.
- Add the bay leaves, allspice, 1.5L boiling water and rice. Place (uncovered) in the oven for 40 minutes.
- Check to see if the rice is cooked through – if not, return to the oven with a little extra water if necessary. Once cooked, stir through the butter.
- Spoon the rice into a serving bowl and top with the toasted walnuts and feta cheese.
- Just before serving the ragu, scatter with fresh oregano leaves and serve with the baked brown rice.
Notes
Tip
Browning the lamb is important to create the rich flavours for this ragu.
Tip
If you use an oven-proof pan to cook this in on the stove top, you will only need one pot for the lamb ragu.
Tip
Baked brown rice is a good alternative to mashed potato, pasta and couscous for these kinds of wet dishes and is almost foolproof!
Storage
The ragu is best if cooked one day, left to cool slowly and then gently reheated the next day to serve with rice.
