Andy the gasman's stew

This satisfying lamb stew recipe is a really simple one-pot dish, just throw together the meat, chunky vegetables and chickpeas and leave to cook slowly.

Ingredients

• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 700g potatoes
• 2 red onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• olive oil
• 1 level teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 heaped tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 orange
• 800g lamb or higher-welfare pork stewing steak (cubed)
• 2 x 400g tins of quality plum tomatoes
• natural yoghurt
• ½ a bunch of fresh coriander (15g)

Instructions

1. 1

   First of all, you need to preheat the oven, but the temperature will depend on how long you want to cook the stew for. If you want it ready in 3 hours, preheat it to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4, but if you want to cook it for 6 hours, then you need the oven on at 140ºC/275ºF/gas 1.

2. 2

   Peel and chop the potatoes into 2.5cm chunks, then peel, trim and roughly chop the onions, carrots and celery. Pick the rosemary leaves.

3. 3

   Put a large casserole pan on a high heat and add a couple of good lugs of oil. Let this heat up, then add the potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, cumin and paprika.

4. 4

   Finely grate in the orange zest and squeeze in the juice, then stir together. Cook for 1 minute, then mix around again before adding the meat.

5. 5

   Drain and tip in the chickpeas, followed by the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a spoon.

6. 6

   Season lightly with sea salt and black pepper, then pour over enough water to cover everything. Bring to the boil and put into the oven for your chosen amount of time. You are now free to go out for a few hours (for the whole day if you want to!).

7. 7

   Serve the stew in bowls with a dollop of yoghurt, and pick over the coriander leaves to finish.