Spicy Lamb Tagine with Couscous

Derf's Note:

Very, very good Moroccan stew over fluffy couscous.Delicious for dinner tonight!!Wonderfull change! from Reader's digest.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 ¾ lbs lean lamb leg steak
• 1 ½ ounces onions , chopped
• 2 cloves garlic , chopped
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 inches cinnamon sticks , broken in half
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 10 -12 saffron strands
• turmeric , if you want a little colour
• salt and pepper
• 4 ½ ounces ready to eat dried apricots , quartered
• 6 ounces carrots , diced
• 3 ½ ounces zucchini , diced
• 12 ounces tomatoes , chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 10 ounces couscous

garnish

• fresh coriander
• parsley

Directions:

1. Trim any fat off the lamb and cut it into 1 inch cubes.
2. Put the meat, onions, garlic, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, ginger, paprika and saffron if using,into the bottom of a double boiler or a large saucepan, season to taste and add enough water to cover.
3. Bring the contents to a boil, then cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes.
4. Add the apricots, carrots,zucchini,tomatoes, coriander and parsley to the pan and cook, covered for a further 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, following package directions, prepare enough couscous for 6 people.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. To serve, spoon the couscous onto serving dish, lift the lamb and vegetables from the pan with a slotted spoon and lay them on top of the couscous and sprinkle them with chopped coriander and parsley.
8. Pour the broth into a jug or bowl to serve separately and let people help themselves at the table.

Reviews

[angelina ballerina]

This was so pretty on the plate, but I couldnt convince anyone to eat much of it. They all politely sais that's nice, but only ate a few spoonfuls. If you are serving to a more openminded group this recipe is great. Nothing went wrong until I served it. Note on ingredients, I couldn't get Saffron but it still worked fine.

[Chef #1059878]

Very good! My husband and younger son both went back for seconds. Starting out with rather less cayenne and then adding it to taste might work well if your diners don't necessarily appreciate high heat. I used hot Hungarian paprika, so cut it down to 1/2 teaspoon and only 1/4 tsp. cayenne. I also took out the cinnamon stick about a half hour before it was done. I would like to have tried it with saffron but that's beyond my budget. I cook by volume, not weight, so guessed and used 1/2 cup onion, about a cup of baby carrots thick sliced, four Roma tomatoes and a 7" or so zucchini diced.

[Tina and Dave]

This was superb! My darling son measured out the spices and put in one-and-a-half heaped tsp cayenne pepper (aaaagh!) but it was still gorgeous; just had to have thick bread doorsteps to help cope! Left out the apricots, had no carrots so used courgette (sorry - zucchini!), fresh spinach & spring cabbage. Thanks, Derf!