Moroccan Lamb Tagine with dates, apricots and

 pomegranate

Vegetarian option, see below*

With spring lamb in the butchers now, it’s a great way to take advantage of this meat and the Moroccan spices add such a flavourful addition when cooked this way. I love apricots and dates  both fresh and dried, and when added to a sauce they being such a wonderful sweet and savoury complexity and get the children acquainted with diverse flavours and tastes on their palette. Nutritionally, dates are a source of antioxidants, good for blood sugar and blood pressure balance and also a great brain booster; so if you’re feeling a little brain fog, add dates to your dinner!

Make this dish in a large pot and you’ll find it’s enough to feed the whole family for a couple of days; because we all need a day off making dinner on a school night!

*Replace lamb with butternut squash for a vegetarian option.

Ingredients

1kg boneless lamb roast, cut into 2.5cm pieces

800ml chicken or vegetable stock

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tsp. freshly crushed ginger

200 g dried apricots

80g medjool dates chopped

4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 cinnamon stick

Small pinch of saffron (optional)

1tsp. ground turmeric

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Garnish

5 g freshly chopped coriander

Pomegranate

Torn mint leaves

Cooked couscous, for serving

Method

In a large bowl, toss lamb with about 2 teaspoons salt. Let sit at room temperature

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring chicken stock to a boil. Remove from heat and add dried apricots and dates.

Let sit at least 15 minutes. 

In a tagine or heat proof ceramic pot, heat, heat oil over medium-high. Add the diced lamb and cook until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes per side. Place lamb on a plate to one side. 

Reduce heat and add the chopped onion to the pot. Cook until translucent, approximately 4- 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger together and cook them until fragrant then add tomato paste and stir through until coated. Add the cinnamon stick, saffron, and spices and cook until toasted, approximately 1 minute more. 

Add the par cooked lamb, dried apricots, and chicken or vegetable stock to pot and season with salt and pepper. Sir through and bring it to boil, then let simmer on a low heat. Cover the pot and leave to simmer until the lamb is tender and the sauce is thickened. This takes around an hour and half.

To serve, sprinkle with coriander or parsley and mint.

Serve over couscous.