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Mary Berry’s Rugby Lamb

As seen on her BBC series, Mary's Foolproof Dinners, this hearty lamb stew from Mary Berry is best served with rice or mashed potatoes for a hearty crowd-pleasing weekend dinner.

From the book

Introduction

Heart-warming lamb stew, serve it with rice or mashed potato or celeriac. You can use neck fillet or leg or shoulder for this recipe. Luce made this for a gang of friends when the Rugby world cup match was on, hence the title!

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Ingredients

2 tbsp sunflower oil
750g (1lb 10oz) lamb neck fillet, trimmed and diced into 5cm (2in) cubes (prepared weight)
3 leeks, thickly sliced
1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced into large chunks
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
500g (1lb 2oz) passata
2 tsp balsamic glaze
150g (5oz) baby spinach leaves

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C Fan/Gas 3.

Heat a large ovenproof frying pan or flameproof casserole over a high heat until hot. Add the oil and fry the lamb in batches until golden and sealed. Set aside.

Add the leeks and pepper to the pan and fry for 3–4 minutes, until starting to soften a little. Add the garlic, sprinkle over the spices and fry for 10 seconds.

Stir in the passata and 100ml (3½fl oz) water and return the lamb to the pan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and bring up to the boil. Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven for 2 hours until tender.

Remove from the oven and add the balsamic glaze and spinach. Stir until the spinach has just wilted.

Check the seasoning and serve piping hot with rice or mash.

Mary’s Tips: Can be made up to a day ahead without the spinach. Reheat to serve and add the spinach before serving. Freezes well without the spinach.

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars

8 Ratings

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8 Comments

    default user avatar Bevlar

    Lovely wholesome meal, it was delicious. Had some leftovers, hubby had it the next day.. Unheard of in our house.. We had leek mash and extra fine beans.. Definitely make it again, it was a winner..

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    default user avatar JH

    Absolutely love this recipe, simple to make. I do mine in the slow cooker and it is worth the wait !

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    default user avatar Claire

    Quick and easy to prep. House smelt lovely whilst the dish was cooking and the taste was delicious. The whole family enjoyed it

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    default user avatar Adele H

    Easy to make good quality lamb made it delicious perfect for family get together meal

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    default user avatar Vera Antao

    Easy and delicious!
    Just made it — thanks Mary Berry.
    Great comfort food with rice or mash potatoes during cold winter nights.

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    default user avatar Shawn Fox

    I have just made this dish and it was absolutely lovely, I slow cooked in a ninja foodi,I followed the recipe and used a bed of rice, now I know I like it I may adapt and add slightly more cayenne pepper and add new potatoes to the dish instead of a bed of rice, this would make it a one pot dish that suits me better, but I highly recommend. Thanks Mary.

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    default user avatar Charlotte Christopher

    It was tasty but came out a bit watery

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    default user avatar Chris

    Delicious great for guests, but equally good for a midweek meal if you do not want to share. i would recommend this recipe as 10/10. I had planned to freeze what 2 of us left. No chance we had it two days running something we never do.

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From the book: Mary’s Foolproof Dinners

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