Moroccan Lamb Stew

This stew is so deeply flavored and hearty. My fiance requested it for his birthday meal, so I learned how to make it in a pressure cooker and absolutely loved seeing all the spices come together in this flavorful broth. Chicken, beef, or pork could also work, but the gamey flavor of lamb works so well with the ras el hanout spice, green olives, apricots, and other stew ingredients.

Ingredients

• Olive Oil

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped

• 3 carrots, cubed

• 6 Yukon gold potatoes (or any small potatoes), peeled, cubed

• Kosher salt and pepper

• 2.5 lb boneless leg of American lamb, fat trimmed, cut into cubes (Or American lamb shoulder, bones removed, fat-trimmed)

• 3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped

• ½ cup dried apricots

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 ½ tsp ground allspice

• 1 ½ tsp ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend)

• ½ tsp ground ginger

• 6 plum tomatoes from a can, cut in halves

• 2 ½ cups low-sodium beef broth

• 1 15-oz can chickpeas

Instructions

• Saute onion and garlic

• Add meat and spice 

• Add veggies 

• Add broth and everything else EXCEPT chickpeas

• Cook on 30 min high pressure

• Open lid, add chickpeas and cook 5 min high pressure

• Scoop out any excess oil at the top of the stew

• Serve with rice/pasta, slivered almonds, parsley, lemon juice!

My fiance loved this dish, and the leftovers the next day were even more flavorful as the meat and vegetables continued to marinate. I’ve since made variations on this dish with chicken, which works great but produces a far less fatty or rich broth.