What is lamb tagine?
Our version of traditional North African dish is lamb tagine. Traditionally it is cooked in a tagine pot. Since we don’t have one of those in middle Tennessee, we improvise with a Dutch oven.
This recipe is a tag more exotic that most of my recipes that include lamb. But it is bursting with flavor. Another dish that uses my favorite cut with is lamb kabobs, or you can use lamb shoulder also. This lamb tagine recipe I found couple years ago and can’t find the original source now to give credit to, but I want to thank whomever it was.
Lamb Tagine
Bring out the Dutch oven, this lamb dish simmers until it is completely tender, while making your kitchen smell like a fancy Moroccan restaurant.
Yield: 8 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Lamb, leg or shoulder (Cut into 1"-1 1/2" cubes)
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1 tsp Paprika
- ½ tsp Ground Cumin
- ½ tsp Ground Cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
- ½ tsp Ground Coriander
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- pinch Saffron
- ¾ tsp Garlic Powder
- ¾ tsp Ground Coriander
- 2 each Medium Onions (Diced)
- 3 each Garlic (Minced)
- ½ tbsp Ground Ginger
- 1 cup Dry White Wine
- 1 can Chopped Tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 cup Water
- ¾ cup Raisins
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine the lamb, olive oil, salt, coriander, paprika, cinnamon, black pepper, and ginger together in a large bowl. Massage the lamb chunks into the spices until they’re spread evenly and coating all of the meat. Cover the bowl, stick it in the refrigerator, and let it marinade for at least 8 hours (up to 24 is even better).
- After the marinading period, remove the lamb from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Preheat a Dutch oven on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the lamb into the pan and sauté for 10-15 minutes until it’s gently browned on all sides. Can you smell that? CAN YOU SMELL IT?! Sorry. There I go shouting at you in food excitement again.
- Once the lamb has browned, add in the chopped onion and garlic. Saute until the onion is tender and translucent, about five minutes.
- Pour the wine and water into the Dutch oven and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Lastly, add in the diced tomatoes and maple syrup. Stir to combine.
- Put the lid on the Dutch oven and place it into the preheated oven for 2 hours.
- Remove the Dutch oven, take off the lid, and sprinkle the raisins over the lamb. Put the lid back on, the Dutch oven back into the oven, and let it finish up for another 20 minutes.
- Serve over buttered rice or quinoa and garnish with fresh herbs.