Lovely Moroccan Lamb Tagine

If your beef stew feels a bit boring, or your chicken casserole is lacking in charisma, try this tasty tagine. Apologies for the alliteration (can't help it!) but don't let that put you off, this dish really is delicious! A little forward planning is required, as it's much better to marinade the lamb overnight and cook the dish for as long as possible. Shoulder of lamb is pretty cheap and slow cooking means it will be tender enough to melt in your mouth (there's that pesky alliteration again).

Ingredients:

500g diced lamb shoulder

1 white onion

1 red pepper

1 tbsp chopped dried apricots

1 tbsp chopped dried dates

1 tbsp raisins

1 tbsp flaked almonds

1 tin chopped tomatoes

250ml red wine

1 tbsp olive oil

handful of fresh parsley

handful of fresh coriander

1 tbsp runny honey

6 cloves garlic

For the spice mix:

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp tumeric

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

a few saffron flakes (optional)

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients to make the spice mix. Use half the mixture to marinade the lamb in a tupperware over night.
• Brown the marinaded lamb in a non-stick pan
• Meanwhile, gently fry the finely chopped onions in the olive oil until and the remaining spice mix until starting to soften. Add the garlic and continue to fry over a gentle heat for a couple of minutes.
• When the lamb is browned, add this to the onions along with all the juices from the pan.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, wine, honey, dried fruits and almonds, as well as half the chopped fresh herbs.
• Transfer the whole lot into a casserole dish (or a tagine if you have one) and cook at 150 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.
• Serve with cous cous and the rest of the fresh herbs scattered over the top. A glass of red wine is also obligatory.