Ravinder Bhogal's lamb and barley casserole

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This easy lamb casserole with turnips, pearl barley and a garlic bread crust simmers for an hour - while you grab a quick snooze.

Ingredients

This dish is packed with pearl barley, which is rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals and barely contains a trace of fat.

For the crust

Heat the olive oil in a casserole. Dust the chunks of lamb with the flour, dust off any excess flour and then brown the lamb in the casserole on all sides. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave to rest on a plate.
Melt the butter in the same pan. Sauté the celery, leek and turnips for 10-15 mins until they have caught some colour and caramelised slightly.
Return the sealed lamb to the pan, add the chilli flakes, bay leaves and rosemary and fry again for 1 min. Pour in the pearl barley and hot stock and season well. Cover and leave to simmer on a low heat for 1 hr, topping it up with water if needed.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F, gas mark 6). Cut the French baguette into slices on the diagonal. Make the garlic butter by pounding together the garlic, salt and parsley, then stir in the softened butter. Butter one side of each slice.
Take the casserole off the heat and arrange the sliced bread over the surface. Bake it in the oven for 20 mins or until the bread is golden and crisp. Serve piping hot.

Buy Cook in Boots by Ravinder Bhogal from Amazon