mole

Inspired by a traditional Mexican mole, this Spicy Mexican Lamb Stew is full of warming spices and just a touch of cocoa. With less than 15 minutes prep time, this recipe is perfect for busy weeknights.

Spicy Mexican Lamb Stew

olive oil

onion

garlic (grated

chilli flakes (or

cumin seeds

smoked paprika

cocoa powder

lamb leg

tomatoes

pepper

kidney beans, black beans or pinto beans

Salt and pepper (to taste)

coriander (plus extra for garnish (optional))

lime juice ((optional))

((optional))

Salsa, guacamole, extra limes, sour cream etc. to serve ((optional))

lime

salt

g cherry tomatoes

coriander

Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C fan/ gas mark 4 / 350F.

Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large ovenproof saucepan or cast iron casserole dish. Add the onion and cook on a gentle heat, with the lid on, for about 3 minutes, until the onions are softened but not brown.

Add the garlic, chilli, cumin, paprika and cocoa. Stir well and cook for 1 more minute with the lid off. Add a splash of water if it gets too dry.

Next add in the lamb. Stir well to coat the meat in the onions and spices and then add the tomatoes, plus salt and pepper to taste.

Bring the stew to the boil and then put the lid on and put in your preheated oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes add the beans and red/yellow pepper and continue cooking for another 45 minutes (1 hour 30 in total).

While the stew is in the oven, make your salsa by combining all the salsa ingredients in a small bowl and setting it aside to allow the flavours to develop.

When the stew is ready, remove from the oven and stir through the chopped coriander and lime juice, if using. Serve with tortillas or rice and the salsa.

Note: Today has turned into de facto Mole Day at Serious Eats. Earlier this morning we brought you another mole sauce recipe as part of our Serious Heat series, and as it turns out, our vegetarian columnist Michael was in...

Seriously Meatless: Mole Aproximado Recipe

ancho chiles

garlic

tomato,

bread,

onion,

oregano leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)

cloves

cinnamon

black pepper

sugar

Salt

orange juice (bitter orange if you happen to have it)

vegetable oil

Remove the stems, seeds and ribs from the chile peppers. You might want to wear rubber gloves for this. Cover them with boiling water and weight them so they stay underwater. Leave to soak for 30 minutes while you prepare everything else.

In a hot, dry skillet, cook the garlic cloves and tomato for about 5 minutes, turning a couple of times. 

Drain the chiles, reserving the soaking water.  In a blender, combine the chiles with the garlic, tomato, bread, onion, oregano, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, sugar, salt and cocoa power, orange juice and 1/2 cup of the chile soaking water. Puree very thoroughly, adding more liquid as necessary until you have about 3 1/2 cups. Strain.

Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over a medium flame. Pour in the mole, and simmer for about 30 minutes, lightly covered. The sauce should darken and become more concentrated. 

Taste and adjust the seasonings. Can you taste the various herbs and spices? The chocolate? The chiles? Is there a bit of acid and enough salt? Aim for a complex, balanced flavor. Also add a little more liquid or simmer a bit longer to get a pleasing saucy texture, like a thick tomato sauce.

Mole brings together the wonderful worlds of chile and chocolate. The smooth, flavorful sauce is very versatile. It can smother enchiladas, chicken, sweet potatoes, you name it. The concept of mole is that the sauce is the main event--what it's served with is in a supporting role.

Serious Heat: Silky, Spicy Mole Sauce Recipe

pasilla chile, seeded and chopped (reserve the seeds)

black beans

dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

almonds, toasted

chicken stock

garlic,

shallots,

Rehydrate the pasilla chile by pouring broiling water over it, and allowing it to soak for half an hour. 

When you're ready to make the sauce, pull the chile open and seed it. Chop coarsely and put in a blender or food processor with the chipotles, black beans, chocolate, almonds and salt. Blend, adding the stock slowly, allowing the blades to do their work as the sauce things out. 

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, and gently sauté the garlic and shallots over low heat. Once they're soft, add them to the blended chocolate-chile mix, and blend again. 

Transfer the sauce to a saucepan, and simmer for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on it to avoid scalding because the chocolate and nuts are delicate. 

The sauce should have a subtle but definite heat and enough salt to bring out the diverse flavors. If the sauce needs to be spicier, add some of the reserved chile seeds or add a low-acid hot sauce such as Marie Sharp's. 

Try this healthy Mexican dish as a quick and easy low-calorie lunch that counts as three of your 5-a-day. The beans are a great source of protein and fibre

Black-eyed bean mole with salsa

red onion, finely chopped

tomatoes,

½ lime, zest and juice

tsp rapeseed oil

red onion,

garlic clove, finely grated

tsp coriander

tsp mild chilli powder

black-eyed beansin water

tsp cocoa

vegetable bouillon

tomato purée

Tip all the salsa ingredients into a bowl and stir together.&nbsp;

For the mole, heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the onion and garlic and fry stirring frequently until softened. Tip in the spices, stir then add the contents of the can of beans with the cocoa, bouillon and tomato purée. Cook, stirring frequently to make quite a thick sauce.

Spoon into shallow bowls, top with the salsa and serve.&nbsp;

This deeply flavored mole recipe gets its traditional flavor from chilhuacle negro chiles.

Mole Negro

mulato chiles

pasilla chiles

chilhuacle negro chiles

plum tomato,

tomatillos, husks removed,

low-sodium chicken broth, divided

plantain, peeled, sliced

almonds

pecans

peanuts

1"-thick challah,

allspice

raisins

raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

raw sesame seeds

herbs

aniseed

Kosher salt

Chilhuacle negro chiles give this mole its traditional flavor and should not be substituted. They’re difficult to find in the U.S., but you can find them—and the other chiles you’ll need—at spicetrekkers.com.

Bon Appétit

Wipe chiles with a damp cloth. Using kitchen scissors, cut a slit lengthwise along 1 side. Open chiles up and remove seeds, veins, and stems; discard stems. Toast seeds and veins in a dry large skillet, preferably cast iron, tossing occasionally, until completely blackened, 7–9 minutes; set aside.

Working in batches, toast chiles, turning occasionally, until slightly darkened and blistered but not burnt, about 1 minute per side. Transfer chiles to a medium bowl and add boiling water to cover (at least 2 ½ cups). Let soak until chiles are softened, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook tomato, onion, tomatillos, and garlic in same skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally, until almost completely blackened, 10–15 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove skin from tomato; discard. Transfer tomato, onion, tomatillos, and garlic to a blender. Add ½ cup broth and purée until smooth; set tomato purée aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet. Add plantain and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set half of plantain aside for serving; place remaining plantain in a medium bowl.

Wipe out skillet and toast almonds, pecans, and peanuts in skillet, stirring often, until golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with plantain.

Toast breadcrumbs in skillet, tossing often, until golden brown, about 2 minutes; transfer to bowl.

Toast cinnamon sticks, allspice, cloves, raisins, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, dried herbs, aniseed, and cumin seeds until spices are fragrant, about 4 minutes; transfer to bowl.

Working in 2 batches, purée plantain mixture, adding 1 cup broth to each batch, until very smooth. Transfer plantain purée back to bowl; set aside.

Drain chiles, reserving soaking liquid. Purée chiles and 1 ½ cups soaking liquid in clean blender, adding more soaking liquid as needed, until smooth. Add toasted seeds and ribs and blend until smooth. Strain chile purée through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl.

Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium. Cook chile purée, stirring constantly, until reduced by about one-third, 15–20 minutes. Add reserved tomato purée and cook, stirring often, until thickened, 8–10 minutes (reduce heat if needed to keep mixture from splattering). Add reserved plantain purée and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 8–10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 cup soaking liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.

Add chocolate and stir until melted. Return mole to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally and adding broth by the cupful, until mole is just thick enough to coat spoon, about 30 minutes. Add sugar to taste and season with salt. Serve with meat or fish of choice.

DO AHEAD: Mole can be made 1 week ahead. Let cool; cover and chill. Reheat, adding broth as needed to loosen.

Oaxaca is known for its moles, and there are countless types. This one features dried red chiles and is often served with poultry.

Mole Coloradito

plum tomatoes, hulled

½ large white onion,

ancho chiles, ribs and seeds removed

chiles,

sesame seeds

½ Ceylon cinnamon stick cinnamon

allspice berries

chicken broth

bittersweet chocolate, chopped

breadcrumbs

grated piloncillo (unrefined whole cane sugar) or dark brown sugar

spice mill

Oaxaca is known for its moles, and there are countless types. This recipe from Criollo restaurant features dried red chiles and is often served with poultry.

Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 450°. Roast tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet on upper rack until softened and browned in spots (vegetables should still hold their shape), 25–35 minutes. Let cool slightly. Cut the top off the garlic, exposing the cloves inside. Squeeze out roasted garlic cloves into a blender. Transfer remaining vegetables to blender and purée until smooth. Scrape into a medium bowl.

While the vegetables are roasting, toast ancho and guajillo chiles on a clean rimmed baking sheet on lower rack until guajillo chiles are slightly darker in spots, about 4 minutes. Let cool slightly, then transfer to a large bowl. Add raisins and 4 cups boiling water, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit 30 minutes.

Transfer chile mixture to blender (you don’t need to clean it); blend until thick and smooth.

As soon as chiles are out of the oven, toast sesame seeds on another rimmed baking sheet on lower rack until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Grind in spice mill, shaking occasionally, to a powder. Be careful not to overgrind or you will make sesame paste. Transfer to a small bowl.

Very finely grind cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and cumin seeds in spice mill. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high and cook spice mixture, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add vegetable purée and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens slightly, 5–7 minutes. Add chile purée and broth, season with salt, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until mole is thickened to the consistency of heavy cream, 60–75 minutes.

Add sesame powder, chocolate, breadcrumbs, and piloncillo to mole and whisk until chocolate is melted and sesame seeds are incorporated. Continue cooking, whisking often to prevent mole from sticking to the bottom of the pot, until very thick and the consistency of marinara sauce, 30–35 minutes. Taste mole and season with salt as needed.

This uncooked mole gets heat from jalapeño, cooling freshness from lettuce and herbs, and a touch of richness from toasted seeds. Use any extra as a dip for crudités.

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Raw Green Mole

pitted,

tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, quartered

spring onion, bulb only, chopped

½ jalapeño, seeded if desired, chopped

garlic cloves, finely grated

romaine lettuce

kale

mint leaves

parsley leaves

tarragon leaves

lime juice

squash

Japanese eggplant, quartered lengthwise

spring onions

romaine heart, quartered lengthwise

torn herbs

Lemon wedges (for serving)

Preheat oven to 350°. Toss pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt. Bake, stirring occasionally, until pumpkin seeds are puffed and both seeds are golden brown, 6–8 minutes.

Purée avocado, tomatillo, spring onion, jalapeño, garlic, lettuce, kale, mint, parsley, tarragon, lime juice, half of toasted seed mixture, and ¼ cup water in a blender until smooth; season with salt.

Do Ahead: Mole can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

Prepare grill for medium heat (or, heat a dry cast-iron skillet over medium). Toss squash, eggplant, spring onions, romaine, and oil in a large bowl to coat; season with salt. Grill vegetables, cut side down, turning occasionally, until tender and lightly charred all over, 5–10 minutes.

Spoon some mole on a platter (you will not need all) and arrange grilled vegetables on top. Top with herbs and remaining toasted seed mixture. Serve vegetables with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

Amarillito Mole with Chicken recipe from Pati&#x27;s Mexican Table Season 1, Episode 10 “Cinnamon”

Amarillito Mole with Chicken

ancho chiles (stemmed and seeded)

guajillo chiles (stemmed and seeded)

Roma tomato

oregano

tsp salt

tsp black pepper (ground)

chicken pieces (with skin and bones)

hoja

Corn Masa Dumplings (optional (recipe in same episode!))

On an already hot comal or dry skillet set over medium heat, toast the chiles for about 10 to 15 seconds per side. They will become more pliable and release their aroma. Remove the chiles from the pan and place them in a cooking pot along with the tomatillos, tomato and garlic cloves. Cover with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, until they are soft and cooked. Transfer to a blender along with 2 whole cloves, ground cinnamon, oregano, salt and pepper. Puree until smooth and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Gently add the chicken pieces skin side down first, and brown on each side for 3 to 4 minutes. Incorporate the onion and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until soft and translucent. Pour the reserved pureed sauce on top, add the hojas santas if using, and cook until it has seasoned and thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, bring to a simmer and keep at a steady simmer on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the masa dumplings one by one to the pan. Cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked and the mole thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Chef Rick Bayless shares his recipe for Classic Red Mole. This rich, complex sauce will make the perfect Mexican dinner.

Rick Bayless' Classic Red Mole

(5 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed

(about 6 1/2 ounces) sesame seeds

rich-tasting pork lard oil

(about 12 medium) dried mulato chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces

(6 medium) dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces

(10 medium) dried pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded and torn into large flat pieces

(about 4 ounces) unskinned almonds

(about 4 ounces) raisins

cinnamon (preferably freshly ground Mexican canela)

tsp black pepper (preferably freshly ground)

tsp anise (preferably freshly ground)

cloves (preferably freshly ground)

white bread (darkly

Salt (to taste)

Sugar

Preliminaries. On a rimmed baking sheet, roast the tomatillos 4 inches below a very hot broiler until splotchy black and thoroughly soft, about 5 minutes per side. Scrape into a large bowl. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds, stirringly nearly constantly, until golden, about 5 minutes. Scrape half of them in with the tomatillos. Reserve the remainder for sprinkling on the chicken.

Brown other mole ingredients. Turn on an exhaust fan or open a kitchen door or window. In a very large soup pot (I typically use a 12-quart stainless steel stock pot or a medium-large Mexican earthenware cazuela), heat the lard or oil over medium. When quite hot, fry the chiles, three or four pieces at a time, flipping them nearly constantly with tongs until their interior side has changed to a lighter color, about 20 or 30 seconds total frying time. Don’t toast them so darkly that they begin to smoke—that would make the mole bitter. As they’re done, remove them to a large bowl, being careful to drain as much fat as possible back into the pot. Cover the toasted chiles with hot tap water and let rehydrate 30 minutes, stirring frequently to insure even soaking.Remove any stray chile seeds left in the fat. With the pot still over medium heat, fry the garlic and almonds, stirring regularly, until browned (the garlic should be soft), about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove to the tomatillo bowl, draining as much fat as possible back into the pot. Add the raisins to the hot pot. Stir for 20 or 30 seconds, until they’ve puffed and browned slightly. Scoop them out, draining as much fat as possible back into the pot, and add to the tomatillos. Set the pan aside off the heat.To the tomatillo mixture, add the cinnamon, black pepper, anise, cloves, bread and chocolate. Add 2 cups water and stir to combine.

Blend, strain, cook. Into a large measuring cup, tip off the chiles’ soaking liquid. Taste the liquid: if it’s not bitter, discard all abut 6 cups of the liquid. (if you’re short, add water to make up the shortfall). If bitter, pour it out and measure 6 cups water. Scoop half of the chiles into a blender jar, pour in half of the soaking liquid (or water) and blend to a smooth puree. Press through a medium-mesh strainer into a large bowl; discard the bits of skin and seeds that don’t pass through the strainer. Repeat with the remaining chiles. Return the soup pot or cazuela to medium heat. When quite hot, pour in the chile puree—it should sizzle sharply and, if the pan is sufficiently hot, the mixture should never stop boiling. Stir every couple of minutes until the chile puree has darkened and reduced to the consistency of tomato paste, about a half hour. (I find it useful to cover the pot with an inexpensive spatter screen to catch any spattering chile.)In two batches, blend the tomatillo mixture as smoothly as possible (you may need an extra 1/2 cup water to keep everything moving through the blades), then strain it in to the large bowl that contained the chiles. When the chile paste has reduced, add the tomatillo mixture to the pot and cook, stirring every few minutes until considerably darker and thicker, 15 to 20 minutes. (Again, a spatter screen saves a lot of cleanup.)

Simmer. Add the broth to the pot and briskly simmer the mixture over medium to medium-low heat for about 2 hours for all the flavors to come together and mellow. If the mole has thickened beyond the consistency of a cream soup, stir in a little water. Taste and season with salt (usually about 4 teaspoons) and the sugar. You're now ready to make Lacquered Chicken or you can cool, cover and refrigerate until you're ready to use. When you're ready to proceed, rewarm the mole.

The showcase of last week’s class was one of Mexico’s most famous and delicious moles, the Poblano, which originated in the kitchen of the Convent of Santa Rosa, in Puebla. After seeing how much guests enjoyed it, I can’t wait to share it with you. I know, the word Mole sounds exciting to eat yet intimidating to prepare.

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Top 20 mole recipes from across the web

The most viewed mole recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

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Seriously Meatless: Mole Aproximado...

Serious Heat: Silky, Spicy Mole Sau...

Black-eyed bean mole with salsa

Mole Negro

Mole Coloradito

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Chicken Mole Enchiladas

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