Turkish Style Lamb Stew with Tomatoes and Spinach

This is pretty quick and easy to assemble using ground lamb, but stew lamb would also be lovely if you have more time to let it simmer. Serve over rice with a generous drizzle of the yogurt sauce on top.

Yogurt sauce
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp finely minced garlic
Pinch of salt

Stew
Olive oil
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced (or small onion)
1 lb ground lamb
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cups chopped tomatoes and their liquid (canned, or thawed if frozen)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb spinach, stemmed and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Make the yogurt sauce first to let the flavors blend: combine the yogurt, garlic and salt in a small bowl and stir well. Set aside until ready to serve.

Heat some olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add the garlic and shallot and saute over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the lamb and brown well. Stir in the cumin and tomatoes and add some salt and pepper, then simmer for a few minutes. Just before ready to serve, add the spinach and parsley and cook until wilted.

Serve the stew over rice. At the table, add a generous drizzle of the yogurt sauce to each serving.

Serves about 4.