Lamb, Pepper and Tomato Casserole

Ingredients for the Lamb, Pepper and Tomato Casserole

Preparing fresh orange juice for the Lamb, Pepper and Tomato Casserole

Preparing the lamb for the Lamb, Pepper and Tomato Casserole

Preparing tomatoes and peppers for the Lamb, Pepper and Tomato Casserole

All the ingredients for the casserole ready to go into the oven

The cooked Lamb, Pepper and Tomato Casserole . this is the recipe for this casserole.

Ingredients

1 lb--3 cups of lean lamb cut into small cubes

2 tablespoons of flour to toss the cubed lamb

plastic bag

1 teaspoon of ground cloves

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 onions sliced

4 garlic cloves finely cut

4 oranges, the juice of 2 and the peeled segments of 2

Stock either homemade or use Swiss organic

3 red peppers sliced

1 yellow pepper sliced

4 large tomatoes cut into 1/4s

salt and pepper

Method

Mix the ground cloves with the flour

Toss the lamb in the flour and spice mixture in a plastic bag

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the meat in small quantities, Place into a casserole dish.

Add more olive oil to the pan and fry on a medium heat the garlic and onions for 5 mins and add to the casserole.

Add the cut peppers and tomatoes to the casserole dish

Add the orange juice

Add some stock,but not to completely cover the casserole about 1/2 pint. The vegetables release some water so too much stock and the end result is too wet, see the picture above

Cook at gas 5--375F--190C for 2 hours

Serve with roast vegetables and steamed greens, mashed sweet potatoes. couscous or rice

Garnish with fresh chopped green coriander or lemon balm or parsley

Variations

Substitute cooked beans frozen or canned such as haricot, borloti, flageolot,black eye for a vegetarian or vegan version of this casserole.

For a spicy version add a chopped chili with the garlic and onions.

This Lamb, Pepper and Tomato Casserole is light , tasty and fresh for summer or spring.

Thanks for reading and check out the archives for lots more casseroles to make for your families.

Crazycupcakes

Spring Lamb Casserole for May

Ingredients for the casserole

Browning the onions

Browning the lamb

The casserole ready to cook and below the cooked casserole

This is a really light spring lamb casserole recipe that goes well with rice, couscous and new potatoes. I like to serve it with a green vegetable steamed over the new potatoes but a watercress salad would be excellent as well.

I am always trying to get greens into our diet every day to get our full rations of vitamins and iron. This casserole will keep well in the freezer and is good as part of a slimming diet as it has lots of vegetables.

I like the combination of mild spices ,fruit, vegetables and meat. This is also an economical dish to prepare.

Ingredients

2 lbs--900gms of lean lamb, I buy casserole lamb from the butchers or get the butcher to take all the meat off a shoulder of lamb.

3 tablespoons of plain flour

3 teaspoons of coriander powder

3 teaspoons of ground cumin (fresh ground seeds would be good)

2 teaspoons of allspice, I use freshly ground from my pestle and mortar

3 tablespoons of olive oil for frying the meat and vegetables

2 onions diced finely

3 garlic cloves diced

water and a chicken stock cube to cover the casserole(use homemade if you have it or vegetable stock is ok as well)

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

3 cups of dried apricots( those that are soft with stones removed) cut into halves

2 courgettes(zucchini) sliced

2 large tomatoes cut into chunks or 12 -20 cherry tomatoes left whole

salt and pepper

Method

1. Prepare all the vegetables.

2. Put all the spices and flour into a plastic bag without holes and add all the cut lamb to the bag. Toss the meat in all the spices until they are covered.

3. Heat the some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic and onions on a medium heat for about 4 minutes until slightly brown.

4. Place the onions and garlic into a casserole dish.

5. Heat more oil in the frying pan and fry the meat in about 3 batches until all the sides are browned but not burnt. Do not overfill the pan as it will boil and not fry . The quick frying seals in the flavour. Place the batches into the casserole dish.

6. Add the vegetables and apricots to the casserole.

7. Add a small amount of salt and pepper. If you have used a bought stock cube I would not add extra salt at this stage.

8. Add any four mixture remaining in the bag to the casserole

8. Add enough stock to come level with the ingredients, if the stock can be hot it will get it cooking quickly and stir all the ingredients together.

9. I cover the casserole with foil and then place on the lid and cook the lamb casserole for May at gas 4--350F--180c in the centre of an oven for 3 hours.

It would cook in a slow cooker but follow the makers instructions for this type of casserole.

Serving

Garnish with fresh green chopped coriander or parsley.

Toast some nuts like cashews or pistachios and scatter a few on the top.

Variations

This could be done as a vegetarian version using ready cooked chickpeas, butter beans or soya beans. I would use the beans from tins or the ready cooked frozen variety to create Chickpea Mediterranean style casserole, Green soya bean and spring vegetable casserole and Butter bean with zucchini and tomato casserole

If you try this and any variations let me know how you get on.

Have a good time preparing healthy casserole recipes for Spring.

Thanks for reading

Crazycupcakes

Beef Bourguignon Recipe

This is my recipe for Beef Bourguignon, which is a good casserole for winter served with baked or roast vegetables and crusty garlic bread. It could look good on a plate with a piece of crusty pastry served separately as well. This is the recipe I have used.

I like to fry all the ingredients in a frying pan first and then deglaze the pan with wine and put all ingredients in the casserole to cook. These are the onion, garlic and leeks.

These are the carrots and mushrooms.

This is the cut beef being tossed in flour inside a plastic bag to get a good cover.

This is the casserole ready to cook with all the ingredients.

I cover the casserole dish with foil, put on the lid and cook. Below is the cooked casserole of the Beef Bourguignon Recipe

Ingredients

1 carrot diced

1 leek sliced and diced

1 red onion diced

24 small onions or shallots peeled and left whole

4 garlic cloves diced

olive oil to fry

1 bottle of cheap red wine. I use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the bottle in the recipe

2 tablespoons of plain flour

1 tablespoon of tomatoe puree

1 teaspoon of dried herbs such as thyme

6 large mushrooms sliced

salt and ground black pepper to taste

3 cups of diced beef in the UK we use chuck steak or stewing steak. Ask your butcher if in doubt.

Method

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan about 1 tablespoon and fry gently the onions, garlic, leeks. Do this in 1 or 2 batches depending on the size of your pan. Less is better to ensure thet the food does not boil, it needs to seal the food.

Put these into the casserole dish.

Fry the carrots and mushrooms. Put into the casserole dish.

Toss the beef in the flour and then fry in a drop of olive oil. It must not boil but fry so the beef gets a brown colour and seals the flavour in.

Put into the casserole dish.

Add1/2 bottle of wine to the frying pan and simmer gently just to get all the flavours from the pan this is called deglazing the pan.

Pour onto the casserole.

Add a small amount of salt and pepper.

Make sure the wine just covers the ingredients.

Add more wine if necessary.

Add the tomato puree.

Add the herbs and mix it all together.

Cover the casserole with foil and put the lid on the top.

Check after 2 hours and add water if it is dry.

Cook for 3 hours at gas 4--350F--180C on a middle shelf.

If the casserole is dry add more wine or water to get it to the right consistency

Serving

I like to bake or roast potatoes in the oven at the same time.

Some green vegetables will add a lot of colour.

Garlic bread would be good

Variations

If you are vegetarian or vegan you could make this recipe but do not use beef. I would use one or more of the following, chickpeas, butter beans, red kidney beans , flageolot beans, borlotti beans, haricot beans and soya beans. These beans would be soaked and cooked first, used from a can or used from frozen ready cooked packets. Some meat substitutes such as quorn would be good.

I hope you enjoy trying this recipe and thanks for reading

The archives have these recipes in with instructions on how I make them.

Beef Bourguignon Casserole
Morocan style lamb Casserole
Pork and Olive Casserole
Roast Lamb Casserole
Pineapple chicken Casserole
Chicken Casserole
Pork and Pepper Casserole
Beef and Olive Casserole
Corned beef Hash Hot Pot Lancashire Style
Beef and Vegetable Casserole
Beef Chilli
Chicken and Apple Casserole
Beef Casserole
Chicken and Mushroom Casserole
Lancashire Hot Pot
Scouse Beef and Vegetable
Beef Onion and Mushroom Casserole
Venison and Peach Casserole
Venison and Plum Casserole
Venison and ApricotCasserole
Venison and Date Casserole
Venisonwith Leeks and GingerCasserole

Crazycupcakes

Cuts of meat for casseroles

The great thing about casserole meals is that they can be made from the cheaper cuts of meat. Casserole cooking is slow and gives the meat chance to break down and become super tender. These are the cuts I would recommend for casseroles.
Beef
Braising steak, chuck steak, flank steak, mince meat, oxtails and offal are all good options to use to make casserole recipes with beef.
Lamb
These are the cuts I would recommend for casserole recipes with lamb, middle neck, breast of lamb, braising lamb and offal.
Veal
The recommended cut is pie or casserole veal. I would only use veal from sources where the calves have been allowed space to move and develop as practised in the UK. A more expensive cut is shin of veal
Pork
The best cuts of pork for casseroling are pork shoulder steaks, braising pork, prime collar bacon joint, offal and sausages. These would be good in Pork recipes for casseroles.
Chicken
I would use boiling hens, whole and jointed chickens and offal in all types of chicken casserole recipes.
Turkey
I would use the jointed parts of a turkey and boned and rolled joints to create casserole recipes with turkey.
Bacon
Joints of ham and bacon are good as well but remember to soak to remove too much salt. They make excellent Pot Roasts or casserole recipes.
Duck and Goose
These birds can be jointed to become excellent for casserole recipes.
Game
All these are excellent Venison, Rabbit, Hare, Pheasant, Grouse and Pigeons.
Fish
All types of fish and shell fish can be cooked in casserole but they are done very quickly not slowly
Some times it is worth experimenting with new ingredients and combinations to create your own recipes using meat and vegetables in season.
Thanks for reading. I am always happy to answer any of your casseroling questions through comments. So fire away. Crazycupcakes

Morocan Style Lamb Casserole

I have been looking at all types of recipes for Lamb. I wanted to create a casserole recipe for Lamb that had a flavour which was rather North African in flavour to remind me of the dishes I have had in Morocco. This Lamb casserole worked out really well and it also freezes well so you can double up quantities to put half away for future meals. I have called this Moroccan Style Lamb Casserole. If you are vegetarian or vegan I have also adapted the recipe to make a Moroccan Vegetable Stew or Casserole with plenty protein full pulses and beans.
Ingredients
4 cups of lean lamb cut into bite size pieces(shouldre lamb is a good choice)
1 onion diced
4 cloves of garlic diced
1/2 cup sultanas
1 cup of dried stoned apricots diced
1 cup of stoned prunes sliced
1 can of chick peas
20 cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of ground coriander
2 tablespoons of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of apricot jam
about 1/2 to 3/4 pints of water
Method
1. Take out a frying pan and a casserole dish.I use a Le Creusot cast iron one.
2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in the frying pan to a medium heat. Fry the onion and garlic till soft but not burnt. Garlic browns very quickly so remember a medium heat.
3. Put the onions and garlic into the casserole dish
4. Toss the cut lamb in the flour.
5. Heat some more olive oil in the frying pan and add the lamb. Fry on a higher heat until the lamb is sealed and brown to look at but not burnt.
6. Add the lamb to the casserole dish.
7. Add all the remaining ingredients to the casserole and stir, Except the water and apricot jam and salt and pepper.
8. Add the water to the frying pan(this should nearly cover the ingredients and stir to get the flavours and juices from the frying pan, this is called De-Glazing the pan. Add this to the casserole(the water should nearly cover the ingredients, add more or less if necessary)
9. Stir all the ingredients together in the casserole dish. I then cover the casserole with foil and place the lid on.
10. Cook the casserole in the middle of the oven at gas5--375F---190C for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Check after 2 1/2 hours.
11. Remove the casserole from the oven. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the apricot jam and stir it in to thicken the stew.
Garnish
1. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander, finely chopped pistchio nuts or cashew nuts
2. Serve with Roasted potatoes, Roasted sweet potatoes and roasted parsnips. To do these peel the vegetables, cut into chunks and boil for about 5 minutes in a pan of water and then drain off the water. Put the vegetables into a tray of hot olive oil( about 4 tablespoons), with salt, pepper, herbs and cook for 1 hour at the same time as the casserole but on the top shelf of the oven. I put them in 1 hour before the casserole is ready so they are all ready at the same time.
3. This moroccan casserole is also very good with rice, couscous and salad.

Vegetarian and Vegan Alternatives
Follow the recipe above but leave out the lamb.
Substitute for the lamb :
2 tins of chick peas for Moroccan chick pea casserole
2 tins of the following types of beans, red kidney, soya, butter, black eye, flageolot, borloti. Any of these would make an excellent Moroccan Bean casserole or stew to suit a vegetarian or vegan diet.
Recently my local supermarket has started to sell these types of beans cooked and frozen in large packets, these are superb for adding to casseroles and stews.

I hope that this has given you a good idea for a tasty casserole.
Thanks for reading. Crazycupcakes

Pork and Olive Casserole

This casserole use Pork and green or black olives. If you prefer to make it without the olives it will work just as well.
Ingredients
4 slices of lean pork/4 cups, cut into bite size chunks
4 onions diced fine
2 garlic cloves diced finely
2 green peppers cut into chunks
2 tablespoons of flour to coat the pork
olive oil for frying about 3 tablespoons
salt and pepper to taste
small tin or jar of your chosen olives(do not add extra salt to the casserole if you use olives)
1 large tin of chopped tomatoes or 10 fresh tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon of basil
1 tablespoon of paprika
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
1/2 pint--10 fl ozs of red wine
Method
Toss meat into the flour and coat
Heat olive oil in a frying pan to a moderate heat.
Fry the pork in the oil until it is browned, remove and place in a casserole dish.
Fry the onions, garlic and peppers add to the casserole
Let the pan cool and add the red wine, stir and pour into the casserole dish.
Add the tomatoes, basil, paprika, tomato puree and olives to the casserole.
Stir the ingredients together in the casserole.
Cook at gas 5 F C for 3 hours
Add salt and pepper to taste
Serve with roast potatoes and roast parsnips, done in the oven at the same time.
Also baked potatoes would be good and could be done in the oven at the same time.
This is a tasty recipe which freezes well.
Thanks for reading. Crazycupcakes

Roast Lamb Casserole

This is slow cooked leg of lamb recipe. I slice up about 6 red onions into a roasting dish.
I sprinkle fresh thyme over the onions.
I take at least 10 cloves of garlic and slice them thin.
I put these pieces of garlic into the lamb. I take a sharp knife cut into the lamb and push in the garlic.
I sprinkle over salt, black pepper and at least 2 tablespoons of ground cumin.
I drizzle over some olive oil.
I add half a bottle of red wine to the onions.
I then cook at gas 7 for about 25 minutes and then I turn the oven down and cook the lamb really slowly for about 5 hours at gas 2.
This slow cooking makes the lamb very tender and delicious.
After 2 hours you can turn the lamb over and add more ground cumin to the meat.
If it dries out I add more red wine and just coat the lamb with the juices
It makes a sensational gravy or sauce with an outstanding flavour.
This is what it looks like after 5 hours.
Cool and slice
Serve with roast potatoes and green vegetables or a fresh salad.
It goes well with pitta breads
It freezes well if you have left overs.
Thanks for reading
Crazycupcakes
Check out the links to my other blogs for lots more ideas.
The archives have lots more recipes