Moroccan Lamb Tagine

This tagine is a great recipe to have in your repertoire! It is really easy to make and I find it brilliant when cooking for a crowd as it can be prepared up to 3 days ahead and only improves with time. It actually freezes fantastically too which is always handy:) I have made this for mid-week dinners, birthday parties, a christening, a communion, friends coming to dinner and loads of other events- it really is an all-rounder. 

I serve it with a nice vegetable stew or a big bowl of steamed green veg, couscous with chopped coriander mixed through, a dollop of tzatziki and some warm pitta bread.

This recipe makes enough for 10 hungry adults! and the quantities can be doubled/trebled as needed:)

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 deseeded red chilli

a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled

a big bunch of fresh coriander- stalks and all!- I think I used a 50g bag 

2kg diced lamb

3 tablespoons of flour seasoned with a pinch of salt

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

2 large white onions, roughly chopped

1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

100g dried apricots, halved

3/4 cinnamon sticks

3 oranges

1L stock- preferably lamb or chicken but I have used beef in an emergency!

Preheat your oven to about 170C.

To start, blend the garlic, ginger, chilli and coriander to a paste. In a large, oven-proof casserole, sweat the onions until they are transparent (medium heat for 5-10 mins). Add in the paste and cook for another min. Take off the heat. In a bowl mix the flour, spices and pepper and add the lamb. Stir well so the meat gets coated. Brown the meat in a little oil in batches using a frying pan. Add the browned lamb to the casserole. Next, add the chickpeas, apricots and cinnamon sticks. Grate in the zest of the 3 oranges, then halve them, squeeze in the juice and throw in the juiced halves for good measure! (you can remove these and the cinnamon sticks before serving) Add the stock. Bring to the boil. Transfer to the oven for approx 1 hr 45 mins by which time the meat should be incredibly tender. Remove the cinnamon sticks and orange halves. Enjoy:)