Fruity lamb and olive tagine
By:
Jen Bedloe
Former head of food delicious.
- Published: 18 Nov 20
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
The secret to this sweet, spicy, melt-in-the-mouth fruity lamb tagine is time: after a few minutes prep, you can leave the oven to do the rest of the work while you get on with other things. Like this recipe? It freezes well, so it’s perfect for a batch-cooking session.
Or try this rib-sticking Moroccan lamb tagine.
Ingredients
- Glug of oil for frying
- 2 red onions, chopped
- 3 fat garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 2 preserved lemons, halved, pith discarded and finely sliced
- 1.2kg diced lamb leg or shoulder
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 100g dried apricots
- 100g pitted prunes
- 280g jar green olives, pitted or left whole
- 500ml lamb or chicken stock
- 2 tbsp honey
- Handful fresh coriander leaves
- Handful fresh mint leaves
- 150g pomegranate seeds
- Handful pistachios, roughly chopped (optional)
- Couscous or flatbreads to serve (optional)
Method
- Heat the oil in a deep hob-safe casserole over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 4-5 minutes until beginning to colour. Add the garlic, all the ground spices and the preserved lemons, then fry for 2 minutes more, stirring.
- Heat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/gas 2. Season the lamb, then add it to the pot and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the chopped tomatoes, apricots, prunes, olives, stock and honey, then bring to a fast simmer. Add 150ml water, then cover and put in the oven for 3½ hours.
- Check the lamb is fall-apart tender, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Scatter with the herbs, some pomegranate seeds (serve the rest on the side) and, if using, pistachios. Enjoy with couscous or flatbreads, if you like.
- Recipe from December 2020 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 456kcals
- Fat
- 23.9g fat (9g saturated)
- Protein
- 33.8g protein
- Carbohydrates
- 23.1g carbs (21.7g sugars)
- Fibre
- 6.9g fibre
- Salt
- 1.1g salt
delicious. tips
Use Belazu tagine paste (follow the jar advice) instead of the dried spices.
Easy swaps: Make the tagine, cool, then cover and chill up to 2 days ahead, or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge, then reheat until piping hot.
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Although this recipe is for 6-8 I halved it and found it very delicious. I will be making this again. Yum yum