Moroccan lamb shanks recipe

By Catherine Hill

Serves 4
Ready in about 3 hours
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Melt-in-the-mouth lamb, slow-cooked with all those fantastically aromatic flavours of North Africa: cooking just doesn’t get any easier than this Moroccan lamb shanks recipe

Ingredients

2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
3cm piece fresh ginger, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
4 lamb shanks, about 450g each
2 large red onions, cut into wedges
11/2 tbsp Belazu Rose Harissa or Bart Spices Harissa Paste (both from major supermarkets)
200g can chopped tomatoes
600ml chicken stock, hot
1 cinnamon stick
100g dried ready-to-eat apricots, halved
100g dried ready-to-eat figs, halved

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan140°C/gas 3. Bash the cumin and coriander in a pestle and mortar or whizz together in a mini food processor, then add the ginger, garlic and salt, and work or whizz to a rough paste. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole (large enough for the lamb shanks to fit snugly) over a high heat. Add the lamb shanks and brown well all over. Remove and set aside.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions to the casserole and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the spice paste and harissa and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and stock, return the shanks to the casserole and stir together. Bring to the boil and drop in the cinnamon stick. Cover with a lid, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours, turning the lamb once or twice.
4. Stir the dried fruit into the casserole and return to the oven, uncovered, for a further 30 minutes or until the lamb is almost falling off the bone. Serve with hot couscous flavoured with mint, coriander, preserved lemon and lemon juice.