It is one of my favourite dishes for the sweetness of fresh peas and carrots mixed with the juices from the meat and flavoured with orange peel, gives this wintery dish a distinguished taste. If you can’t find fresh peas, substitute with frozen ones. The other good thing is that this dish works well for vegetarians and vegans, simply, omit the meat and for more flavour add garlic. This dish is usually served with plain rice, another tip is that it shouldn’t come out too ‘saucy’, the amount of water I recommend is fine, however, if using tinned tomatoes which tend to be more watery, reduce the amount.

If you are interested to know more about peas and carrots, here are 2 suggested websites:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=55

http://www.great-workout.com/nutrition/vegetables/carrot-nutrition-facts.cfm

Serves 4

Ingredients.

• 1tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 300g / 11oz lean lamb meat cut into small cubes
• 300g / 11oz carrots peeled and diced into small cubes
• 4 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed (optional)
• Peel of 1 small orange
• 150ml / 5fl oz water (or vegetable stock if omitting meat)
• 450g / 1lb fresh ripe tomatoes skinned or the equivalent of tinned chopped tomatoes,
• Seasoning: salt to taste, freshly milled black pepper plus ½ tsp ground allspice
• 500g / 1lb 2oz fresh or frozen peas

Method.

1. To skin the fresh tomatoes, simply drop them in boiling water, leave them for one minute for the large ones, and 30 seconds for the smaller ones, then remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate, to cool slightly. Slip off the skin and chop.

1. Heat up the oil in a deep medium sized pan. Stir fry the chopped onion for 1 minute then add meat, season with and cook until it is lightly browned. Mix in the carrots, garlic if using, orange peel and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. After that, add chopped tomatoes followed by the water or vegetable stock (if omitting the meat), and bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, after which you mix in the peas. If you are cooking frozen peas, you may need to increase the heat to boiling point before dropping them in. Simmer for another 15 minutes or until the peas are cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  

1. Discard orange peel and serve hot with plain rice.