This hearty Middle Eastern flavored lamb stew is made from a slow-roasted leftover lamb shank. It’s delicious with chickpeas, spinach, and tomato, all in a lamb broth made from rendering the bone down. Added spices like coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, and turmeric to bring the whole bowl of lamb stew together. Serve hot with crusty bread for a complete meal everyone will love!
There are all sorts of recipes for lamb stew out there. My idea was to make one with what I had available while using my lamb meat from the slow-roasted lamb leg we had a few nights before. The stew is super hearty and makes a complete meal on its own, making enough for lunches the next day.
Let’s get out the Dutch oven for this Middle Eastern lamb stew!
We start the soup-making process by removing any sizeable leftover bits of meat from the leg bones. Cover the meat in the fridge while we render that meaty bone down to some seriously flavorful broth.
In a large stock pot, add the bone, bits of grizzle, and fat and cover with water. Bring it to a boil and continue to boil for one hour. I am not adding herbs because we will add great flavor with our spices when making the stew itself.
Watch the stock pot and replace any water that evaporates to but just enough to cover that bone fully. After one hour, you can remove it from the heat.
Add the peeled and chopped onion, carrot, and fennel to your Dutch oven. You will saute these in olive oil for six minutes.
Add the bone broth to cover your veggies and allow to boil for another five minutes. While it is boiling, open and drain the chickpeas and the diced tomato. You don’t need the extra tomato juice as the broth is enough liquid. We do want the tomato chunks, though.
Unwrap the frozen spinach and add it to the cooking pot. Cover with the chickpeas and tomatoes. Add your meat from the fridge and the spices. Mix well and continue to mix until the spinach is no longer frozen. We will now put the whole Dutch oven into the oven for one hour at two hundred degrees Fahrenheit. You can leave it longer if needed. I had errands to run, so this worked perfectly to heat the veggies and meat thoroughly while allowing the spice blend to develop in the pot.
Serve the stew hot with a crusty bread and listen to the satisfied sighs of appreciation. Leftover stew can be kept in the fridge for the next day’s lunches. Keep for a short time, as the lamb has now been cooked twice, and it’s a leftover meat, so it has already been sitting for a day or two.
Ingredients:
Leftover lamb shank: New Zealand lamb leg was slow-roasted and used to make the bone broth for this stew. The meat was added to the stew for a rich Middle Eastern flavor.
Chickpeas: These are a popular protein source in the Middle East. I also wanted to use something in the stew other than the standard potato, so this choice made a lot of sense. Make it easier with canned chickpeas!
Frozen Spinach: This recipe used frozen spinach, a low-cost vegetable that breaks down well in soups and stews. The spinach helps this stew to thicken and adds excellent flavor.
Carrots: These long root vegetables are a staple in many cuisines and particularly popular in soups and stews. They bring a sweetness and a vibrancy with their orange color that is hard to miss.
Canned Tomato: Canned diced tomato adds to the broth, giving it a deeper flavor. We drain the tomatoes because the canned tomato juice would add too much liquid to the stew, which needs to be thicker.
Coriander: This is the seed from the cilantro plant. We use ground coriander for this recipe. Funny story: years ago, I grew an herb garden from seeds. I had no idea that the coriander and cilantro were identical. I wasted so much cilantro I could cry!
Cumin: This spice is easy to notice. It’s very aromatic and used in a lot of Middle Eastern recipes. The earthy, warm flavor it imparts to cuisine is hard to not notice.
Cayenne Pepper: The pepper adds a bit of heat to offset the sweetness of the lamb dish. While not typically found in Middle Eastern cooking, it is a pleasant addition to this stew.
Cinnamon: It has long been used in chicken and lamb meat dishes. It imparts a particular flavor that you will either love or disklike immensely. As a Canadian, I wasn’t overly familiar with cooking savory dishes with cinnamon. However, I have found it a pleasant change from everyday North American cooking.
Turmeric: This member of the ginger family imparts a mustard-like flavor that adds a distinctness to our spice blend in this rich stew.
Cloves: Always use cloves sparingly, no matter what you are making, as they have an intense flavor that can be overpowering. The subtle, sweet taste that cloves impart adds to the warmth of this dish.
Substitutions:
Chickpeas: Can be substituted with chunks of potato.
Carrots: While a cheap food source, carrots can be switched out in this for a sweet potato or winter squash.
Spinach: A cheap vegetable purchased frozen; it adds to the stew’s thickness. However, it can be subbed with kale if it is on hand. Be sure to chop extra fine before adding.
Expert and Storage Tips:
Cover the entire bone when making the broth from the leftover lamb leg. Remove the bits and pieces by straining them before using the stew.
Storage this stew for only one day in the fridge since you are already with leftover meat
Middle Eastern Lamb Stew From Leftover Lamb Shank
Equipment
- 1 Stock Pot
- 1 Dutch Oven Cast Iron
- 1 Wooden Spoon
- 1 Tablespoon
- 1 Teaspoon
Ingredients
- 1 Leftover Lamb Shank Meat Removed
- ½ Cup Fennel Diced
- 1 Large Onion Chopped
- 3 Lrg Carrots Peeling and Sliced
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Cups Canned Chickpeas Drained
- 28 Oz Can Diced Tomato Drained
- 1 Pkg Frozen Spinach 10oz or 300grams
- 4 Cups Lamb Stock Made From Leftover Lamb Shank
- 1 Tbsp Coriander
- 1 Tbsp Cumin
- ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ Tbsp Turmeric
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Cloves
Instructions
Making Lamb Bone Broth
- In a stockpot put the bone, gristle, and fat from the Lamb shank.
- Put all leftover meat cut into cubes into a bowl covered in fridge.
- Boil the bone in the water for one hour. Add more water as needed to keep it covered.
- Let boil for one hour.
Making the Stew
- Peel and chop the carrots and onions. Set aside.
- Chop into pieces the same size as the carrots and onion the fennel bulb. (Use celery if you don't have fennel)
- Add olive oil to the Dutch oven and heat on high.
- Add the chopped onion, fennel, carrots and saute for six minutes. Stirring constantly.
- Add four cups (enough to cover veg) of the lamb bone broth previously made. (see above)
- Add in the frozen spinach. Cover with drained chickpeas and tomatoes.
- Add the cubed leftover lamb meat from the fridge.
- Measure and add all the spices.
- Allow to boil until the spinach has thawed completely.
- Remove the Dutch oven from the stovetop and place in preheated 200℉ oven for one hour or longer to allow flavors to fully combine.
- Serve hot with a crusty bread.