A Moroccan Tagine Recipe

Moroccan Tagine Recipe – Lamb with Orange and Chickpeas
A tagine pot is a unique type of ceramic or clay cookware which is designed for slow cooking and is popular in Morocco.
The bottom of the tagine is a wide, circular, shallow dish used for both cooking and serving, while the top is distinctively shaped into a rounded dome or cone and is designed to keep the moisture in.
Typically, tagine meals are a rich stew of meat, chicken, or fish, and most often includes vegetables or fruit, salted or preserved lemons, giving a unique flavour and then served on a bed of couscous, rice or bread.
Traditionally, you arrange the food and the meat in the middle and you pile the vegetables around it. You then put the lid on and leave to cook slowly over a charcoal stove (or in a conventional oven to you and me).
What you’ll need
Preparation time 25 minutes, plus overnight soaking (unless you buy already soaked chick peas in a tin like I do)
Cooking time 2 1/2 hours

225g (71/2oz) chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (unless you buy ready soaked chick peas)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground turmeric
½ teaspoon saffron threads
1.5kg (3lb) shoulder of lamb, trimmed of all fat and cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) cubes
2 onions, roughly chopped
¾ Pint of lamb stock in boiling water
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
12 pitted black olives, sliced
½ lemon squeezed juices
½ orange squeezed juices
6 tablespoons chopped coriander
Salt and pepper

How to cook – the easy way
Combine all the ingredients above into the tagine and stir well. You can brown off the lamb and onions first if you wish but for ease I just put them in the pot with the rest of the ingredients. Squeeze in the juices of half a lemon and half an orange.  Only stir in half the coriander, using the remainder to garnish.

It’s so easy to do and looks amazing when presented in the middle of your table of guests.