When my boyfriend and I first started dating, he invited me over for a home cooked meal. However, living in New York City, my expectations for home cooking on a date were limited. Would he make macaroni or spaghetti? But when he told me the menu involved a dish he learned from his mom in Turkey, I prepared for some seriously delicious food.
After reading my blog posts over the past year, my boyfriend wanted to contribute one of his specialties. This simple and flavorful dish is typical of home cooked meals in Turkey that aren't served in restaurants. It's a dish to be cooked with love and enjoyed with family and friends.
When we cooked this together I was surprised at how these simple ingredients come together. And, just how well plain Greek yogurt complements the meal. I know, it seems odd. Try swirling some in and you'll be hooked as I am.
Slow-Roasted Turkish Lamb Stew with Green Beans
serves 2 with leftovers
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound lamb stew meat (you can also use beef stew cuts like chuck)
2 cups chopped green beans
3 small tomatoes, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup Greek yogurt
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft but not browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Cut lamb into slightly larger than bite size pieces and trim excess fat. Add lamb to onions, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides, stirring and turning pieces as necessary.
Cover pot, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 15 minutes. Add green beans and cook for an additional hour. Add tomatoes and cook 20 minutes more. Lamb should be tender, not tough, when pierced with a fork.
Serve hot over rice with a spoonful (or several, if you're Turkish) of yogurt on top.
Related: Behold the Simit: A Very Crusty Turkish Bread
(Images: Stephanie Barlow)
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How do you think this would work with ground lamb? We have some in our freezer...
I'm glad you included beef as a substitute! I thought this looked really tasty, but I don't care for lamb. I'll give it a shot with beef though!
I believe the Turkish name for this dish is Etli Taze Fasülye
This sounds delicious, but I'm surprised there are no spices.
To jess13...I thought that too at first, but then again you don't want to ruin the flavor of the lamb with overpowering spice.
I am definitely going to make this! YUM
My armenian side of the family would get together to cook this stew, except (as typically armenian as this is) we would squeeze lemon all over it after mixing the yogurt, pilaf, and stew.
It is delicious with lots of fresh dill.
I agree with Jess 13... no spices?
Living in Turkey, I confirm putting salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to dish very typical but absolutely delicious dish. And when I read the "or several, if you're Turkish" part, I was nodding fiercely.
By the way @thinkingwoman you can use ground red meat ass well but try to not burn the meat since the green beans will take much longer to cook than the ground meat.
Mr Lane is from Turkey and something I fell in love with over there - randomly - is pasta with yogurt. They just mix yogurt into a tomato meat sauce. It adds creaminess similar to adding cheese Italian-style, but it's a lot lighter and more refreshing in the warm weather.
For vegetarians, you can do this without the lamb - green beans cooked with tomatoes is also very common and I think we ate it at every meal!
Dutch ovens and lamb are a match made in heaven, aren't they? I just slow cooked a couple of lamb shoulder roasts last week with tomatoes, onions, etc. (and I love it with a dollop of sour cream) but I've never thought to add green beans to the mix - or try yogurt.
I'm always looking for new ways to serve our homegrown grass fed lamb. Thanks for the delicious inspiration - I think I'd better plant some extra beans in my kitchen garden next year. :)
My poor boyfriend attempted to make this last night. After the lamb and beans had been stewing on low for half an hour, he texted me frantically asking what to do, as the meat had burnt terribly on the bottom (my poor white dutch oven!) and the beans had turned to a soggy mess.
We rescued it by tossing the beans, rinsing the meat off and getting as much of the burnt crust from the dutch oven as we could, then putting the meat back in with the tomato (I also added some passata, half a can of water and a dash of tomato paste and red wine), cooked for another 45 minutes, and adding the new beans at last minute to keep them tender rather than mooshy.
It did end up pretty yummy, especially with the yoghurt (although quite a few bits of the expensive lamb were burned on the bottom) but I'm wondering if the recipe mixed up the addition of the beans and tomato. Surely the tomato would go in before slow-cooking to give it some moisture?
@Lunchy -- Traditionally meat is almost always added after onions&garlic while tomato paste is added right after the meat and tomatoes never before meat. However if you want tomatoes to be soft but not mushy, it's much better to add them after the slow cooking process. You can always add some water to prevent meat and green beans getting burned.
@ shady lane: Yes! I love yogurt with pasta and red sauce. Adding yogurt is a funny concept but once you realize how well it pairs with tomatoes, it becomes another condiment to set at the table!
@ jess13: I was surprised, too. Definitely play around with adding spcies, but try it once in its most simple form - it's incredible just how flavorful it is!
@ Lunchy: This happened to us when we moved into a new apartment with an electric stove. The burner was much hotter than expected and when it was time to add the green beans and the pan was totally dry with the lamb burning and sticking to the bottom. We rescued it with red wine, water, and a much lower temperature. Not the best version, but still tasty!
My Turkish boyfriend's Mother aunt and other relatives cook this regularly when I go visit. It is DELICIOUS! It always amazes me that his mother has only five spices in in her kitchen! One staple, that she does add to this and almost every dish is a dried red pepper grown only in their area called "maras pepper". It is not too spicy but had a nice mellow heat. They also use "kekik" which I believe is thyme, but not in this dish.
Cooks really well in a slow cooker. Prepare in your electric wok, then all in the slow cooker. On high if you want it reasonably soon. Better still on low for as long as you need. Cooks well with pork.
To make the Lebanese version of this, add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. I usually make it with chicken instead of lamb, and add the tomatoes and green beans at the same time. I like to add a couple whole cloves of garlic as well.
question, no liquid or tomato paste?