Anne Morgan This Delia Smith lamb tagine is built from two of her own recipes, and it feeds 4 to 6 people. You brown cubes of lamb, then cook them slowly in a spiced tomato sauce with apricots, honey and harissa. Allow about 3 hours, mostly in a low oven, then finish it with almonds, preserved lemon and a quick couscous.
The sauce, the almonds, the preserved lemon and the couscous come from her Vegetable Tagine in her Vegetarian Collection. The browning and the 2 slow hours at gas mark 2 follow her lamb curry from 2001.
Our changes are small and marked. Lamb takes the place of the aubergine, squash and parsnip, and the sauce cooks in the oven rather than on the hob.
For chicken instead, her Moroccan chicken tagine uses preserved lemons, olives and chickpeas.
Lamb Tagine, Delia Smith-Style
Course: DinnerCuisine: MoroccanDifficulty: Easy4-6
servings20
minutes2
hours35
minutes890
kcalLamb braised for 2 hours in tomatoes with cumin, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, honey and apricots. Toasted almonds and preserved lemon go on top, with cinnamon and coriander couscous on the side.
Ingredients
- For the tagine:
900g (2lb) lamb neck fillet or boned shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon saffron stamens
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1½ tablespoons clear honey
2-3 teaspoons harissa paste
75g (3oz) ready-to-eat dried apricots, chopped
1 strip of lemon peel
½ teaspoon salt
10g (½oz) butter
50g (2oz) whole blanched almonds
1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon
- For the couscous:
225g (8oz) couscous
400ml (14fl oz) boiling water
30g (1oz) butter, in small pieces
a generous pinch of ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
Directions
- Oven: Heat the oven to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas mark 2.
- Brown: Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Brown the lamb quickly in about 3 batches and set it aside.
- Onion: Heat the rest of the oil in a flameproof casserole and cook the onion over a medium heat for 7 to 10 minutes, until golden.
- Spices: Add the garlic, cumin, cinnamon and ginger and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.
- Sauce: Stir in the saffron, tomatoes, honey, harissa, apricots, cinnamon stick, lemon peel and salt. Add the lamb and bring it up to a simmer.
- Braise: Cover the casserole and cook it in the centre of the oven for 2 hours, until the lamb is tender.
- Couscous: Towards the end, put the couscous in a bowl and pour on the boiling water. Cover it with a clean cloth and leave it for 10 minutes.
- Almonds: Melt the 10g of butter in a small frying pan and stir the almonds until lightly browned. Fork the rest of the butter, the cinnamon and the coriander into the couscous.
- Serve: Spoon the tagine into a warm dish, scatter over the almonds and then the preserved lemon, and serve it with the couscous.
Notes
- Her parts: the sauce, almonds, preserved lemon and couscous are her Vegetable Tagine (Vegetarian Collection, page 135). The browning and the oven time are her lamb curry (How to Cook Book Three, page 90).
- My own tips: lift out the cinnamon stick and lemon peel before serving, and add a splash of water if the sauce gets too thick.
FAQs
Is the lamb tagine on Delia’s website her own recipe?
No, it comes from another cookbook. Her website does show a Moroccan-spiced lamb tagine. But the page says it is taken from COOK Serve up Joy, a book by the COOK food company.
Google sometimes calls that recipe hers, but it is not from any of her own books. That is why this page builds a lamb tagine only from recipes she wrote herself.
Which lamb is best for a tagine?
Neck fillet or boned shoulder, because both stay juicy over a long, slow cook. Her lamb curry uses neck, while her older spiced lamb with chickpeas uses boned shoulder.
For a lamb shank tagine, my own version uses 4 shanks browned whole in the same sauce. Give them 3 hours at 140°C, fan 120°C, gas mark 1, as she does for her braised lamb shanks.
How hot is this tagine?
Mild to medium. Her recipe gives 2 to 3 teaspoons of harissa paste and calls that mild to medium spiciness.
My own tip is to start with 2 teaspoons and taste the sauce near the end. You can stir in a little more harissa then if you want more heat.
Where can I buy preserved lemons?
Delia notes that they are now sold in jars in larger supermarkets. You only need a tablespoon of the chopped lemon for the top.
The almonds and lemon go on at the very end, so they keep their crunch and sharp taste.
Can I make lamb tagine ahead?
Yes, it works well a day ahead. In her Complete Cookery Course, Delia says many casseroles taste better the next day.
Cool it quickly and keep it in the fridge. Reheat it gently until it simmers for a full 30 minutes, then make the couscous and toast the almonds while it heats.
