Lamb Tagine

Recipe for a traditional North African Tagine with lamb

The tagine is a traditional North African casserole made of natural clay, in which meat and vegetables are cooked tender and juicy over a long time. The small oven stores and distributes the heat evenly, so that the ingredients are cooked vitamin-friendly with little fat and liquid. The tagine is sensitive to rapid temperature differences and should therefore be heated only slowly.

The lamb tagine is the typical Moroccan stew dish. The mixture of lamb, dates and oriental spices gives a delicious spicy flavour and meltingly tender meat.

Ingredients (serves four)

500 g of lamb (from the shoulder)
2 onions
2 tomatoes
100 g whole or flaked almonds
50 g of dates
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
1 pinch of saffron
¼ tsp turmeric
2 cm of fresh ginger
2 tblsp of lemon juice
3 tblsp honey
300 g couscous
olive oil
salt, pepper

Preparation

Peel the onions and finely dice them. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into eighths. Wash the dates and halve them. Give all together in a pot with 100 ml of water, ½ tsp cinnamon, honey and lemon juice and bring to a simmer for 10 min.
Rinse the lamb meat, dab dry and cut into 3-4 cm cubes. Season lamb with salt, pepper and turmeric. Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and brown lamb on all sides, about 4 minutes.
Peel the ginger and and rub it with a fine grater.
Add the onion tomato dates sauce and the meat to the tagine, add about 400 ml of water, add ginger and saffron, close the lid and let to simmer for approx. 45 minutes. After this time, test whether the meat is tender, if not, let it simmer another 15 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the couscous according to the package instruction. Roast the almonds in some oil until golden brown and sprinkle over the dish before serving.

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