Spicy Lamb Stew

We love lamb around here, every which way—braised, roasted, grilled, and even made into meatballs. Here is a spicy lamb stew, that is almost beefy in taste. Think of it as a spicy lamb pot roast.

The recipe is adapted from The Niman Ranch Cookbook, where it is billed as a tagine, a savory Moroccan stew.

Lamb shoulder pieces are browned, and then slow cooked in stock and spices such as cumin, paprika, and cardamom.

Slow cooking, at a low, even temperature is important for the lamb shoulder to become tender. We cooked this stew on the stove-top, but you could easily make it in a slow-cooker or even a traditional Moroccan tagine.

Spicy Lamb Stew Recipe

You will get more flavor if you use less expensive lamb pieces that come bone-in, in which case you'll likely want to remove the bones before serving. Pick lamb pieces that have some fat.

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs of lamb shoulder stew meat, cut into 1½-inch cubes
• Olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 2 dry pasilla chiles, chopped, stems and most seeds removed
• 1 Tbsp hot Hungarian paprika*
• 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Pinch of ground cardamon
• 1½ cups chicken stock (use gluten-free stock for gluten-free version)
• 14 oz of canned whole tomatoes, put through a food mill, or puréed
• 8-10 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley
• 4-5 sprigs of thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2/3 cup raisins
• Salt and pepper

* Hot Hungarian paprika is not the regular Hungarian paprika which is sweet and mild. It is even hotter than cayenne. If you don't have access to hot paprika, I would substitute 1/2 with sweet paprika and 1/2 with chili powder.

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