Leftover Lamb and Sweet Potato Casserole

I'm a planner; I have to be or we'd never get a decent meal cooked in this house. In my 4 years as a mother, I've got better and better at making sure I dont need to go to the store to make the meal that's been running round my head all day. So, I have well stocked cupboards and a fridge with most of the basics at all times. I have become increasingly adept at tweaking a recipe here and there to accomodate my ingredient shortcomings.

So, in this vein, I've been considering a lamb and sweet potato stew/casserole whatever you'd like to call it, for some weeks. I had an (already cooked) 2lb hunk of lamb in the freezer asking to be used in a tasty way, invariably there are sweet potatoes in our kitchen in the winter and I happened across a delicious sounding, Martha Stewart, Moroccan influenced recipe, before Christmas, when I was having my brother's family of 5 coming to stay for 2 weeks. A lot of food was needed!

The recipe does not call for leftover lamb but it substituted more than nicely I thought and shortened the process somewhat (always a bonus in my life). It called for prunes and dried tart cherries and the cupboard was bare of cherries and almost so of prunes, so I substituted a few apricots for good measure. I also made a few other tweeks here and there but it turned out completely delicious. My 2 and 4 year old ate a rightly amount without much complaint (the 4 year old really does not like meat as a rule) but I've enough left to feed the 5 thousand! Yippee leftovers tomorrow, and it's friday too!!!

So here goes:

Leftover Lamb and Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp ground coriander
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger (I didnt have any and used ground)
2lb cooked lamb cut into 1 inch cubes.
olive oil
butter
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3 cups beef stock (I substituted chicken)
1 28oz can whole plum tomatoes
8 medium carrots peeled and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup tart cherries (I substituted apricots)
1/2 cup prunes

Directions:

1. Combine the spices and toss with the lamb.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium high, in a dutch oven and toss in the lamb. Cook for approx 10 minutes then remove from the pan.
3. Add a knob of butter and the onions. Cook for 5 mins on medium then add the garlic and cook another 5 mins.
4. Add the stock, tomatoes, lamb and carrots. Simmer for approx 1 hour until thick and flavors are combined.
5. Preheat oven to 325°
6. Meanwhile place the sweet potatoes in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil. Cook until fork tender, drain well, and mash with another knob of butter.
7. Spoon the potatoes directly on top of the lamb dish and place uncovered in the oven for 30 mins.
8. Enjoy!