Now September is Spring – and September is right around the corner. But I am yet to see the weather begin to warm up down here in Canberra, in fact it was snowing in my backyard the other day. So I think that we still have some time to whip up a delicious winter warmer – like these lamb shanks with apricots and prunes.
I picked up some tender lamb shanks from the markets and came home to see what I had in the cupboard to go with them. I found chickpeas, prunes and apricots so decided to go in a slightly Middle Eastern direction {which made for a nice snap shot for instagram}.
I found that adding fruit into savoury dishes polarises people. Some people love the idea of lamb and stone fruits. Some people enjoy a little pomegranate in their savoury dish. And then a friend told me to google ‘fesenjan’ – a Persian Chicken Stew with Walnut and Pomegranate Sauce – now that sounds right up my alley.
LAMB SHANKS WITH APRICOTS AND PRUNES
4 – 6 lamb shanks
1 red onion
1 can of chickpeas
1/2 cup of apricots
1/2 cup of prunes
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup of couscous
4 cups of chicken stock
olive oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper
Brown off your lamb shanks in a little olive oil and crushed garlic. Add the red onion, chickpeas, apricots, prunes, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and stock bringing to the boil. Place a lid on the dish and pop into the oven at 180 degrees for 3 hours.
Remove the pot from the oven and add the couscous {make sure that there is at least 1cm of liquid covering the couscous – if there isn’t you can simply add some water}. Return to the oven for 20 minutes. Fluff the couscous with a fork and then you’re ready to serve.
Do you enjoy lamb shanks? Do you like fruit in your savoury dishes? Have you made one of my one-pot-wonders lately – remember to let me know, by snapping an image and posting it to instagram with the hashtag #goodfoodweek.
I’m not an apricot fan but I pretty sure I would love this dish. It’s getting a bit warmer in Sydney now but we were in Melbourne on the weekend and it was so cold so this would have been perfect. Thanks for linking it up to YWF x
I can’t until until the weather warms up here in Canberra – although I have to admit that we have had some nice sunny days lately.