Lamb, Apricot and Olive Tagine with Charred Onion Couscous

• μερίδες: Servings 5

Υλικά

Lamb:

1000 g lamb shoulder meat, trimmed of excess fat (or start with 1600 g boneless lamb shoulder and trim to yield ~1000 g after removing fat)

Tagine:

5 g fine salt (~1 tsp)

3 g freshly ground black pepper (~1 tsp)

Vegetable oil, for cooking

5 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 brown onions (~300 g), diced

30 g tomato paste (~1.5 tbsp)

20 g fresh ginger, grated (~4 tsp)

45 g Ras el Hanout (~3 tbsp, see your Pastes and Spice Mix section)

2 cinnamon sticks

650 ml chicken stock

130 g whole dried apricots (~1 cup)

130 g green olives, unpitted (~1 cup)

5 g preserved lemon rind, rinsed and finely chopped

10 g lemon zest (~2 tsp)

30 g coriander, roughly chopped (~1 cup packed leaves and tender stems)

Couscous:

300 g couscous

500 ml water

Salt, to season

Olive oil, small drizzle

4 medium onions, finely sliced on a mandolin

Parsley, finely chopped, to garnish

To Serve:

50 g slivered almonds, lightly toasted (~0.5 cup)

30 g coriander leaves (~1 cup)

Οδηγίες

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Lamb:

Cut the lamb into large 3.5cm cubed pieces so they don’t become fall-apart tender too quickly. Cooking long and slow = more flavour so it needs the time to reduce and thicken without the lamb crumbling apart because the cut is too small! Toss the lamb pieces with the salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large dutch oven with a lid over high heat. Brown the lamb in several batches, turning to colour the pieces all over, about 3-5 minutes. Remove, then repeat with remaining lamb. Set aside.

Tagine:

Turn heat down to medium high. Add onion and garlic, cook for 3 minutes until soft. Add tomato paste, ginger, cinnamon and spice mix. Cook for approximately 1.5 minutes, stirring constantly, to cook out the raw flavour of the tomato paste and toast the spices to activate their essential oils and enhance the flavour.

Add chicken stock, then return the lamb to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid then transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Add the apricots, preserved lemons and olives, put the lid back on and cook for another half an hour, checking halfway to ensure the sauce hasn't reduced too much. If needed add a little more chicken stock.

Test the lamb and season. Add the lemon zest and chopped coriander and gently stir through.

Couscous:

Put the remaining cooking liquid (Note: this is NOT the reduced cooking liquid) in a pot, bring to a boil, then add the couscous. Immediately remove from the heat, put on a lid on and set aside for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes use a fork to mix through the couscous, fluffing it with the fork as you do. Put the lid back on and set aside for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Bring a large frypan to a high heat. Add vegetable oil and heat. Add the sliced onions and fry until they are heavily browned. Do not stir the onions too much when first putting them into the pan, this will help them brown. As they start to brown stir regularly. We want the onions to be very well cooked, with a charred dark brown colour. There may be small bits which are burnt, this is OK, so long as all of the onions are not mostly burnt.

Fluff the couscous again with a fork. Stir in the cooked onions, chopped parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper. Test it for further seasoning. Add a drizzle of olive oil and mix through. Set aside.

To Serve:

Sprinkle with toasted almond flakes and coriander.

Σημειώσεις

Why Use the Oven:

The stove doesn't work as well because it requires stirring frequently to prevent the base from catching as the sauce of this tagine is considerably thicker than say a beef stew. And because the lamb pieces gets so tender, they will break apart into the sauce.

The slow cooker also doesn’t work because the sauce will not reduce nearly enough in the slow cooker. So the sauce will be too thin and lack flavour. Cooking in the slow cooker won't create the required caramelisation on the surface and edges of the tagine as it does in the oven, which adds incredible flavour in the cooking process.

For some dishes you can get around this by finishing the dish cooked in the slow cooker in the oven but unfortunately not for this tagine!

Sauce Reduction:

The sauce of this tagine is meant to be thick, which concentrates the flavour,. However make sure to check that the sauce is not reducing too much as it cooks.

Storage:

Stores well for 4 days in the fridge, or 3 months in the freezer. Highly recommended to make it the day before as its flavours will meld and develop overnight. Keep it in the refrigerator in the dutch oven and then reheat in the oven at only 150C until hot, say 20 to 30 minutes. Avoid transferring it to a pot on the stove if you can, as it is risky that the meat will break apart too much and the base can burn.