Mediterranean Lamb Stew

You will love this one-pot Mediterranean Lamb Stew. It is a homely and comforting meal, full of the sunny flavours of the Mediterranean. For this recipe I use cubed boneless lamb shoulder with fragrant herbs, tomatoes, red peppers, eggplant and olives. Cooked slowly and gently, the lamb develops a rich flavour and becomes meltingly tender. It is certain to become a regular on your meal plan.

• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) stewing lamb – we use shoulder cut in 3 cm (1 inch cubes)
• 1 teaspoon coarse cooking sea salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper – freshly ground
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large brown/yellow onion – cut into small cubes
• 4 cloves garlic – roughly chopped
• 800 g (28 oz) tinned crushed tomatoes
• 250 ml (1 cup) chicken stock
• 125 ml (½ cup) dry red wine – I use Shiraz
• 2 teaspoon fresh rosemary – finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes – optional
• 2 large red capsicum/bell peppers – cut into 3 cm (1 inch) pieces
• 1 medium eggplant/aubergine – cut into 2 cm (¾ inch) cubes
• 90 g (½ cup) Sicilian green olives – pitted
• 70 g (2 cups) baby spinach – firmly packed
• 2 tablespoon fresh parsley – roughly chopped
• sea salt and black pepper – to taste

• 200 g (7 oz) Greek feta cheese – crumbled
• 2 tablespoon fresh mint leaves – firmly packed and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest