This season, Le Creuset introduces an exciting new collection of cookware inspired by the vibrant hues and aromatic spices of world cuisine. As part of the campaign, Le Creuset has teamed up with Persian and Middle Eastern cookery expert, Sabrina Ghayour, to bring the Colours of Spice concept to life with the creation of 15 exclusive Le Creuset recipes.
A regular contributor to TV shows such as Saturday Kitchen and MasterChef, Sabrina is also an award-winning cookery writer with two best-selling cookbooks – Persiana and Sirocco. The exclusive Le Creuset recipes created by Sabrina are all bursting with flavour and colour. We offer five exceptional recipes that will help you discover the world of Persian cuisine from the comfort of your home.
Lamb, Saffron, Apricot & Almond TagineSticky Chilli Chicken with Toasted Sesame Seeds & Spring OnionsPeanut and Harissa Chicken Stew with Cannellini Beans, Eggs & Herb CrumbSpiced Sweetheart Cabbage Ribbons with YoghurtSpiced Rhubarb Cake with Cinnamon CreamLamb, Saffron, Apricot & Almond Tagine
Tagines are a wonderful way of bringing a little unique and exotic North African flavour to a meal. The Tagine vessel is a simple but highly effective shape enabling steam to swirl around inside, cooking the contents beautifully whilst producing a delicate broth in addition to the main ingredients themselves. Lamb, perfumed with saffron and spices, is married beautifully with the sweet depth of plumped apricots and the crunch of whole almonds. This stunning dish is a real showstopper but couldn’t be simpler to make.
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: Approx. 2 hours
Serves: 4-6 People
Ingredients- 800g lamb neck fillet, cut into 1 inch thick chunks
- Couple of generous pinches of best quality saffron threads
- 150g dried apricots
- 75g blanched whole almonds
- 2 small or 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 1 heaped teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 2 heaped tablespoons of clear honey
- A good squeeze of lemon juice
- Vegetable oil
- Maldon sea salt to taste
- Water, freshly boiled
- ½ small packet of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped including stalks
- Drizzle enough oil into the base of the tagine to cover the surface and heat gently over a low to medium heat. Add the onions and fry them until they begin to brown slightly around the edges.
- Add the lamb and stir the meat into the onions, ensuring you keep the meat moving, so its gets nicely browned but does not stew. Crumble in the saffron strands and stir through the meat until the colour begins to bleed.
- Add the spices and stir, ensuring you coat the meat well and then add the honey and stir well. Pour in just enough water, from a boiling kettle, to cover the ingredients, add the squeeze of lemon and reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring every so often.
- After the initial cooking time has elapsed, add the apricots and stir the ingredients well and allow to cook for at least another 30 minutes before serving scattered with almonds and fresh parsley.
- Serve with either couscous, rice or flatbread.
Cook’s notes
- Great served with rice, couscous, bulgur wheat or bread. And pork shoulder also works well as a substitute to lamb.
Sticky Chilli Chicken with Toasted Sesame Seeds & Spring Onions
This is the kind of dish I like to make when I am craving a takeaway. It’s simple to prepare, tastes great and makes the perfect midweek meal in minutes. The flavour is brought together using simple, cupboard ingredients and the garnishes give it a final flourish of texture and taste and that sweet and spicy glaze is completely moreish.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: Approx. 10 minutes
Serves: 4 People
Ingredients- 600g chicken breast, cut widthways into 1cm thick strips, then lengthways into two strips
- 1 level teaspoon of cinnamon
- 2-3 tablespoons of rose harissa
- 4 tablespoons of clear honey (or more, if desired)
- 4 whole spring onions, thinly sliced including green part
- 15g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds, lightly dry-toasted in a pan
- 1 teaspoon of Nigella seeds
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Add enough vegetable oil to coat the inside of the wok generously and heat on a low to medium heat. Once hot, add the chicken strips and stir-fry browning the edges quickly. Remove and drain the excess oil from the chicken on a plate lined with two sheets of kitchen roll. Do not fully cook the chicken as it will still need to be cooked with the glaze shortly.
- Empty any remaining oil from the wok, add the chicken back in along with the harissa, cinnamon, honey and a generous amount of salt and pepper and stir-fry well until the chicken is evenly coated in the mixture. Adjust honey, harissa and seasoning quantities as desired.
- Serve scattered with sesame and Nigella seeds, coriander and spring onions.
Cook’s notes
- You can also use pork, prawns and even tofu as a substitute to chicken. Great served with rice or noodles.
Le Creuset Brings the Colours of Spice into your Kitchen for Spring/Summer
Famed for its robust cast iron kitchenware, homeware giant Le Creuset introduces an exciting and vibrant new collection this spring inspired by the vibrant hues and scents of aromatic spices and herbs from world cuisine.
Peanut and Harissa Chicken Stew with Cannellini Beans, Eggs & Herb Crumb
For me, there is only one cut of chicken I like to use in stews and that is chicken thighs. Not only wonderfully economical but just 2 hours cooking time sees the delicate meat fall off the bone. Cooking with meat on the bone adds so much flavour to a dish and this dish has bags of flavour. A rich, nutty, sweet and spicy broth make for a delicious combination and the preserved lemons add a sharp burst of contrasting flavour finished with boiled eggs which bring so much comfort to the dish.
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: Approx. 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 4 People
Ingredients- 8 large bone-in chicken thighs, skins removed
- 2 onions, sliced into ½cm half moons
- 8 preserved lemons, some cut into halves and some into slices
- 2 teaspoons of ground turmeric
- 1 heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of harissa
- 3 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons of clear honey
- 3 heaped teaspoons of Maldon sea salt flakes, crushed
- 400g can of cannellini beans
- 4 free range eggs, room temperature
- Black pepper to taste
- Boiling water from a kettle
- Vegetable oil
- 50g roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
- 25g natural dried breadcrumbs
- 1 small (20g) packet of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Add enough oil to the casserole to cover the base and heat over a low to medium heat. Add the onions and fry gently for a few minutes until they begin to soften.
- Add the chicken thighs and combine well with the onions before adding the dry spices, peanut butter, harissa and honey and stirring well. Season with salt and pepper and add just enough boiling water from a kettle to just about cover the chicken thighs.
- Stir one last time then put on the casserole lid and cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Add some hot water from a kettle into a saucepan and gently add the eggs and boil them for 6 minutes, drain and plunge them into iced water to cool down. Once cool peel off the shells, halve them and set aside.
- Lightly toast the breadcrumbs either in the oven for 5-6 minutes at 180°C/Fan 160°C/ Gas Mark 4 or in a non-stick frying pan, until they are golden brown, then set aside.
- After 1 hour and 15 minutes of cooking time, add the cannellini beans and preserved lemons and stir well and leave to cook, with the lid off, for a further 30 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and lay the egg halves gently on top of the stew, put on the lid and allow the stew to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- Combine the chopped parsley with the breadcrumbs and peanuts and sprinkle the mixture over the stew and serve.
Cook’s notes
- You can serve this dish with rice or flatbreads and if preferred, use tahini instead of peanut butter.
Spiced Sweetheart Cabbage Ribbons with Yoghurt
Cabbage is often overlooked because at some stage in our lives, we have all had some over-cooked and under-seasoned cabbage. This is the dish to do away with that notion, providing lots of flavour and depth, making cabbage a great side dish once again. Cabbage can hold spice rather surprisingly and the little burst of yoghurt gives it an additional layer of flavour which can simply be dotted around the finished dish or even stirred through.
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: Approx. 10 minutes
Serves: 4 People
Ingredients- 500g sweetheart cabbage or Savoy, spring greens or winter cabbage
- 3 fat garlic cloves, cloves bashed, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
- 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes (optional)
- 25g butter, cut into cubes
- 4 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
- Olive oil
- Maldon sea salt and pepper
- Cut the cabbage lengthways down the middle and pull off the larger outer leaves. Cut out the central stalk from each leaf and layer the leaf halves on top of each other. Roll them up and cut width-ways into 1cm ribbons. Wash the cabbage ribbons and drain into a colander but don’t shake off any water.
- Gently heat the Toughened Non-Stick Stir-fry pan on a low to medium heat (for no more than 2 minutes), add the spices and dry-toast them for about a minute or so until their perfume is released but not letting them burn.
- Drizzle some oil in to the pan, just enough to coat the base, and heat gently. Add the garlic, if using, and sauté lightly without colouring then take half the cabbage and pack it into the pan and season that layer with a little salt and pepper, stir and add the rest of the cabbage, seasoning the top layer again with salt and pepper and another little drizzle of oil. Cover with a Toughened Non-Stick 26cm Glass Lid – see Cook’s notes - and cook for 4-5 minutes without removing the lid. Hold the lid on firmly and shake the pan to move the cabbage around. This will enable the cabbage to fry and steam-cook at the same time.
- Remove the lid and stir the cabbage well, making sure the spices coat the cabbage, then add the butter and stir.
- Check the seasoning and adjust if desired and remove the pan from the heat. Dollop the yoghurt in parts over the cabbage and serve immediately.
Cook’s notes
- You really can use any variety of cabbage and even kale works really well, so long as you remove the tough stalks.
- Le Creuset Toughened Non-Stick 26cm Glass Lid available to buy separately for the Stir-fry Pan.
Spiced Rhubarb Cake with Cinnamon Cream
This gently spiced cake is studded with sharp bursts of melting rhubarb which helps cut through the traditional sweetness of the sponge. The cinnamon cream is the perfect pairing with this cake and makes it a great and impressive dessert or simply an indulgent afternoon treat.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45-55 minutes
Serves: 8 to 10 People
Ingredients- 400g rhubarb, ends trimmed and then cut thinly into ½cm thick slices
- 225g caster sugar, plus 2 heaped tablespoons extra
- 225g self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, plus 1 heaped teaspoon extra
- 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
- 150g salted butter, melted
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste
- 50g flaked almonds
- 300ml double cream
- 3-4 tablespoons icing sugar (depending on your preference)
- 1 heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste
Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/Fan 160°C/Gas Mark 3
- Butter a Le Creuset Stoneware 26cm Heritage Rectangular Dish.
- Put the rhubarb slices into a mixing bowl with 2 heaped tablespoons of caster sugar and 1 heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon and mix well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla paste, cinnamon and ginger together until evenly combined. Add the flour and mix well before finally adding the rhubarb pieces and giving everything a thoroughly good mix to make sure all the ingredients are evenly combined.
- Pour the cake mix into the dish and smooth over the top to make sure the batter is evenly distributed and the surface is flat before scattering all the flaked almonds liberally over the top. Then place in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes or until golden on top and a skewer/knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- In a mixing bowl whisk the double cream with the cinnamon, icing sugar and vanilla paste either using an electric whisk or hand-whisk until the mix is relatively stiff but still light and not overly dense.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool. Serve with a generous dollop of cinnamon cream.
Cook’s notes
- You can substitute the almonds with a scattering of pine nuts and if desired, stir a generous handful of pine nuts into the cake batter before baking.
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