I suspect that this combination of lamb with olives, lemon and orange must be Spanish in origin, with a few Middle Eastern touches. The sharpness of the lemon goes well with the richness of lamb. Serving it over the shredded lettuce is enough to make the greens droop but not lose colour or flavour. If you don’t fancy chewing on lemon slices then don’t bother with them, the addition of lemon juice at the end of cooking time as a final seasoning may be sufficient for you. Serve with simple crusty bread, plain boiled rice, or better still, saffron rice.

Ingredients - serves 4

750g diced lamb
1 lemon, sliced
juice of 1 small lemon
100g Spanish green olives
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
pinch of saffron strands
50g pine nuts
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp flour
200ml white wine
200ml fresh orange juice
4 tomatoes cut into quarters
salt, pepper
1 cos lettuce, thinly shredded

Method

Brown the lamb in the oil in a casserole and remove with a slotted spoon. Now add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook gently for a few minutes to soften, then add the saffron strands, coriander, cumin, and pine nuts, cook a further few minutes.

Sprinkle over the flour and stir to incorporate, cook out the flour for a couple of minutes then pour in the wine and orange juice and return the lamb to the pan. Stir in the olives and season with salt and pepper. Now allow the stew to cook gently for an hour and a half.

While the lamb cooks, salt the sliced lemon and scald with boiling water, leave to stand for at least 15 minutes then drain - it should be quite tender if you’ve sliced it thinly enough. Reserve.

Taste the stew and add a little lemon juice to taste. Divide between warmed bowls, serve with a couple of lemon slices over shredded lettuce and have crusty bread to mop up the sauce.