Lamb Tagine | RecipeTin Eats

Lamb Tagine is my decide of all tagines! The ras el hanout spice combine is sheer perfection with lamb, and sluggish cooking works wonders to develop wealthy flavours within the sauce. Serve over couscous for a shocking Moroccan meal. Your own home will scent wonderful!

Lamb Tagine

I’ve achieved rooster and vegetable tagine. Now it’s time to fulfill my favorite tagine little one: LAMB TAGINE!

Arabic spice mixes and lamb are only a match made in heaven, a mixture I’ve not shied away from exploring. Proof: Moroccan backstrap, Harira Soup, Shawarma shoulder, Lamb Shawarma chickpea soup, Moroccan lamb meatballs. (And all my Moroccan recipes right here)

Undecided why it’s taken me so lengthy to share the mom of all Moroccan lamb dishes – tagine. It is a stunner. Fork-tender meat, richly spiced sauce, studded with candy apricots and completed with a very good handful of toasted almonds. And the scent when it’s cooking! Swoon….

What’s a tagine? “Tagine” refers to a cone-shaped cooking vessel from North Africa in addition to the stew that’s cooked inside. All types of meals are cooked in tagines, from greens to meat and fish. Heat spices come along with the pure juices that seep from the cooking meat and greens to kind the sauce that makes tagines so irresistible.

Meats are sometimes sluggish cooked utilizing stewing cuts of meat to make them superbly tender, such in because the lamb tagine I’m sharing right this moment. Then again, fish tagines are a lot faster to cook dinner!

Heads up – the sauce is thick and richly spiced!

The sauce of this Lamb Tagine is lowered till thick which implies intense flavour which I feel is important for lamb which is likely one of the stronger flavoured proteins. Consider all of the spices and lamb juices lowered and concentrated – you recognize it’s going to be good!

Right here’s what it seems to be like earlier than and after the sluggish cooking:

Cooking Lamb Tagine — Earlier than sluggish cooking – sauce is watery and skinny

Pot of Lamb Tagine — Earlier than sluggish cooking – sauce is watery and skinny

Components in Lamb Tagine

Right here’s what you want to make Lamb Tagine.

Finest lamb for tagine

The perfect lamb to make use of for lamb tagine is lamb shoulder. It’s a tricky reduce of meat that’s made for sluggish cooking that’s marbled with fats so it’s superbly juicy. Generally it’s generically offered as “lamb stew meat”.

I personally don’t assume there’s another reduce of lamb that works as properly. Lamb shank meat could be the following finest however you’d want to chop the meat off the bone and the form of the items received’t be as uniform, so some will cook dinner quicker than others.

Boneless lamb leg would most likely be my subsequent decide nevertheless it’s leaner than shoulder so it wouldn’t be as juicy.

Different meat cuts – For non-lamb choices, beef chuck, boneless beef ribs, pork shoulder and pork scotch fillet (aka collar butt and pork neck) would work properly. For rooster, see my Hen Tagine recipe, and I’ve additionally bought a Vegetable Tagine (it’s so good!).

Ras el hanout Spice combine for lamb tagine

The spice mix for tagine is known as ras el hanout and it’s made with frequent spices it’s possible you’ll have already got. You should buy blends however I a lot choose to make my very own to get the fitting stability of flavours. Right here’s what you want:

I additionally use ras el hanout for rooster and vegetable tagines however the mix is barely totally different. For instance, as a result of lamb has a stronger flavour than greens, the spice mix is stronger.

The good factor right here is that as a result of we’re utilizing a good few totally different spices right here, it’s not the tip of the world in case you’re lacking one … and even two. I’ve provided a couple of switch-out choices within the recipe notes!

and every part else for the tagine

And listed below are the opposite elements you want to make lamb tagine:

Garlic, onion and ginger – Fragrant flavour base. Don’t skip the ginger!
Cinnamon sticks – A spice historically utilized in Center Jap cooking and makes the flavour so particular. You’ll be able to substituted with a little bit powder however cinnamon sticks works higher. It’s a little bit extra refined and earthier.
Hen inventory/broth – The braising liquid. Historically water is used, however inventory makes it tastier! Notice: Hen inventory is used quite than lamb inventory as a result of the flavour is “cleaner”. Lamb inventory shouldn’t be offered at grocery shops, and there’s a purpose for that – as a result of it’s very…properly, lamb! We get sufficient lamb flavour on this sauce from the lamb items.
Dried apricots – Some variations of tagine are made with olives, others use dried fruit, others nonetheless might use each. I’ve opted for fruit as a result of tagines are one of many few dishes I like that pairs fruit with meat! I additionally assume the orange color of the apricots seems to be beautiful within the sauce.

Nonetheless, the recipe contains the olive possibility too.
Tomato paste – That is what’s used to thicken the sauce and add a contact of flavour. We don’t use sufficient to make it tomatoey, it’s very refined.
Lemon – Some tagines use preserved lemon (like in my rooster tagine) however for lamb, contemporary lemon zest is gorgeous. Additionally – cheaper. 🙂
Slivered almonds and coriander/cilantro – Garnish for serving. An excellent quantity of each works!

Methods to make Lamb Tagine

Very straight ahead – brown the lamb, sauté aromatics, plonk every part in then sluggish cook dinner for 1 hour 45 minutes till the lamb is fall-apart tender!

Brown lamb – Lower the lamb into giant 3.5cm / 1.5″ cubes so that they don’t develop into fall-apart tender too shortly. Cooking lengthy and sluggish = extra flavour within the sauce and it wants the time to scale back and thicken!

Toss the lamb in salt and pepper, brown in three batches (don’t crowd the pot else the lamb will stew as an alternative of brown) then take away right into a bowl.

Use a big oven-proof pot with a lid, so it might go from the range to oven. My dutch oven pictured is 24cm / 9.5″ huge.
Sauté aromatics – Prepare dinner the garlic and onion first, then the tomato paste, ginger, cinnamon and spices. Prepare dinner for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring continually, to cook dinner out the uncooked flavour of the tomato paste and toast the spices which brings out the flavour.

Braising liquid and lamb – Add the rooster inventory and lamb, then convey it to a simmer.
First cook dinner 45 minutes – Put the lid on and switch to a 180°F/350°F (160°C fan-forced) oven for 45 minutes.
Add apricots then stir them in. We add them in partway by way of else they get too mushy.
Prepare dinner one other 1 hour – Put the lid on then return the tagine to the oven for an extra 1 hour, or till the lamb items are fork tender.

Thick and filled with flavour – Right here’s what the lamb tagine seems to be like after 1 hour 45 minutes of sluggish cooking. The sauce has lowered right down to a thick consistency, wealthy with spicing and a ravishing depth of flavour you may solely obtain from sluggish cooking.
Serve over couscous. I simply use plain couscous for this tagine as a result of it’s bought a lot flavour in it, quite than one with fruit and nuts in it.

Why the oven works finest

As with all sluggish cooking recipe I share, I do know some folks will ask if it may be cooked utilizing the sluggish cooker or on the range! Sadly for this lamb tagine, the oven works finest.

The range wouldn’t work very properly since you’d must stir often to forestall the bottom from catching because the sauce of this tagine is significantly thicker than say, Beef Stew. However as a result of the lamb items will get so tender, it should break aside into the sauce.

The sluggish cooker additionally doesn’t work that properly as a result of the sauce is not going to cut back almost sufficient within the sluggish cooker. So the sauce is just too skinny and can lack flavour. Cooking within the sluggish cooker additionally means you don’t get caramelisation on the floor and edges of the tagine such as you do within the oven and on the range which provides flavour to stews.

For some dishes you will get round this by ending a dish cooked within the sluggish cooker within the oven, like I do with Sluggish Cooker BBQ Brisket and Sluggish Cooker Roast Lamb Leg. However sadly not for stews like this tagine!

Close up photo of freshly cooked Lamb Tagine

That shut up photograph above does me each time, remembering the richness of the flavour of the sauce and the way tender that lamb is. Tender, however not mushy, we’re not making child meals right here.

The dried apricot provides stunning pops of sweetness in addition to sweetening the sauce a contact.

And ending with contemporary lemon zest is simply sheer perfection. Please don’t skip that! – Nagi x

PS Additionally don’t skip the nice handful of toasted almonds for serving, it’s additionally the right of completion!

Watch the right way to make it

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Lamb Tagine | RecipeTin Eats

Lamb Tagine

Heads up – the sauce is thick and richly spiced!