Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Apricots & Almonds
2 h 15 min · Hard
#comfort#middle-eastern#stew#weekend
Two hours of low heat turns lamb shoulder into something you can eat with a spoon, and the apricots melt into the sauce until it's sweet, spiced and just short of jammy. This is the dish to make when you want the house to smell extraordinary all afternoon.
Ingredientsfor 4 portions
- 500 g Lamb Shoulder, Boneless, Raw, cut into large chunks
- 100 g Dried Apricots
- 50 g Almonds, flaked, toasted
- 2 medium Yellow Onion, finely sliced
- 4 clove Garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Coriander, Dried
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 500 ml Chicken Bone Broth
- 250 g Canned Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 180 g Couscous
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1.5 tsp Sea Salt
- 15 g Cilantro, roughly chopped
Steps
- Pat the lamb dry and season it well. Heat the olive oil in a heavy casserole over medium-high heat and brown the meat in batches for 4–5 minutes a side until crusted deep brown, then lift it out.
- Lower the heat and cook the onions in the same pot for 8–10 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, until soft and golden.
- Add the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cumin and coriander with the tomato paste and stir for 1–2 minutes until the kitchen smells like a spice souk and the paste turns brick dark. Toasting the spices in oil wakes them up — thrown into liquid they stay dusty and flat.
- Return the lamb, pour in the broth and bring to a bare simmer. Cover and cook very gently for 1½ hours, checking once or twice that it's barely bubbling rather than boiling — a hard boil tightens the meat instead of relaxing it.
- Stir in the apricots, chickpeas and honey and cook uncovered for a final 30 minutes, until the sauce reduces and glosses and the lamb gives way completely to a spoon.
- Toast the almonds in a dry pan for 2–3 minutes until golden and fragrant, watching constantly — they burn in seconds.
- Prepare the couscous: cover with boiling salted water, seal with a plate and leave for 5 minutes, then fork through to separate the grains.
- Taste the tagine and adjust the salt — it should be savoury first, sweet second. Serve over the couscous, showered with toasted almonds and cilantro.
