Lamb Tagine
Photography by Aaron McLean.
A tagine is both a cooking vessel and the slow cooked, fragrant North African stew cooked in it. Meat or poultry is gently simmered with vegetables, olives, preserved lemons, garlic and spices like cumin, ginger, pepper, saffron and turmeric.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
1 kilogram boneless lamb leg steaks
1⁄2 cup flour 2 teaspoons turmeric 2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground cardamom 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon freshly
ground pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 400 gram tin Italian tomatoes, crushed
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons honey
300 mls chicken stock or water
1⁄2 preserved lemon
20 pitted prunes
1⁄2 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
70 grams slivered almonds, toasted
METHOD
Lamb: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Trim the lamb of excess fat and cut into large pieces.
Combine the flour with half the turmeric, ginger, cumin, cardamom, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Toss the lamb to coat, shaking off any excess flour.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large heavy-based casserole or tagine.
Add the lamb and cook over a medium heat until golden on all sides – don’t allow the flour to catch and burn on the base of the pan. Remove the lamb to a plate and set aside.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil along with the onions and garlic to the pan. Cover and cook until soft, adding a little water if they start to catch on the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining spices, salt and pepper, tomatoes, bay leaves, honey and the stock or water. Stir to combine then add the lamb and any juices to the pan. Cover and cook in the oven for 1 hour.
Scrape the pulp from the preserved lemon and cut the rind into thin strips. Remove the lamb from the oven and add the lemon rind and prunes. Cook for a further 15 minutes or until the lamb is very tender.
To serve: Stir half the flat-leaf parsley and almonds into the tagine. Transfer to a serving bowl and scatter over the remaining parsley and almonds. Serve with couscous tossed with pistachios and currants. Serves 4
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