Spicing it up the Moroccan way: lamb tagine and couscous

Keen to make lamb so tender it melts off the bone and into your heart? The tagine is the matriarch of the slow-cooker family and with its distinct shape, ensures that your meat is packed with flavour and mouth-wateringly tender.
So how does the tagine work? Tagines originate in North Africa and the same design has been used for centuries. The sloped, cool walls create the perfect surface for converting rising steam into condensation which returns to the bottom of the dish keeping meat moist. Sceptical? We gave the Le Creuset Tagine a test run with this winning recipe – putting it head to head with a casserole dish. Find out which dish won the contest.

Ingredients – serves 6

1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp paprika
2 Tbsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp turmeric
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Shoulder of lamb, trimmed and cut into 5cm chunks (approximately 1.1kg meat)
5 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
200g dried apricots, cut in half
55g dates, cut in half
55g sultanas or raisins
500ml lamb or beef stock
2 Tbsp clear honey
85g flaked almonds, toasted
Coriander and couscous, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C.
2. Place the flour, cayenne pepper, black pepper, paprika, ground ginger, turmeric and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to combine to create your spice mix.
3. Place the lamb in a large bowl and toss together with the spice mix.
4. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in the tagine base on your stove top. Add the carrots, onions and celery and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes so that the onions are soft but not coloured. Add the crushed garlic for the final 3 minutes.
5. In a separate frying pan, heat the remaining oil and brown the cubes of lamb on all sides, then add the browned meat to the tagine. De-glaze the frying pan with tomatoes and add these juices to the tagine too.
6. Add the apricots, dates, sultanas, lamb stock and honey to the tagine.
7. Bring to the boil, cover with the lid and place in the oven to cook for 2-2.5 hours or until the meat is meltingly tender.
8. Sprinkle over the coriander and flaked almonds and serve with couscous.
Hearty, slow food to keep you warmed up this winter.

Download print-friendly recipe.
Read more about our Tagine vs Casserole contest.
Buy a Tagine on Yuppiechef.com.