Lamb On A Budget

Lamb is a delicious, but somewhat expensive meat.  After moving here we noticed that our local Whole Foods gets in about 4 lambs a month, and butchers them in house, including organ meat.  So over the last few months I grabbed lamb heart whenever I saw it, slowly gathering 6 lamb hearts.  I've previously written about using a recipe called Moroccan Lamb Heart, but recently really changed how I did it and wanted to share how we ate enough lamb for 3 meals, for less than $9 spent on meat. For those who can't stomach the idea of eating heart, regular lamb or chicken would work well too.

Moroccan Lamb Heart Curry
adapted from this recipe on moroccanfood.about.com

• 2 lb. lamb hear, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar (I used regular white vinegar)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Combine all ingredients and marinate for 30 minutes-3 hours in a container in the refrigerator.

Now, for the other ingredients:
• 1 large white or yellow onion, sliced thinly
• Can of tomato paste (I used tomato paste I made which is super thick)
• 3 carrots, diced
• Approx. 1 1/2 c. frozen peas
• Olive oil
• Water
• Flour (I added it to thicken it a bit)

When it's about 1/2 an hour before you want to cook the lamb (based upon how long you choose to marinate it), add a little olive oil to a pan, heat and then cook on med-low the onions, allowing them to soften and turn golden.  Once they are cooking, add your tomato paste. 

Let the tomato paste cook in with the onions, adding extra olive oil if it starts to stick.  In a separate small skillet, add a little olive oil and heat.  Once hot, add carrots and cook until softened.  Once soft, add peas and begin to cook. 

Then, take out the marinated lamb and scoop all of it's deliciousness into the pan with the onions and tomato paste.  Combine, and begin cooking.  The lamb will cook fairly quickly, so once it's been brown for a bit, take a piece out and cut to check if it's simply pale pink inside.   If so, add the carrots and peas.  At this stage add about 1 cup of water and mix to make a sauce.  Continue to cook as the sauce thickens.

I added a small handful of flour, sprinkled on top and mixed to combine to make it a thicker sauce (without having to add a cream).  If you are okay with a thinner sauce, you can omit that step.

Once the thickness is to your liking, turn off heat.  Serve over basmati rice.  Bon Appétit!