Lamb Tagine

There are all sorts of tagine recipes out there, however I think that lamb is best suited to the array of spices and textures involved. Here I use neck fillet which is quite a cheap cut and although needs a bit of trimming, produces a tender and flavoursome result. I like to serve this with the obligatory cous cous, some char grilled veg i.e. Red / Yellow Peppers, Courgettes, Aubergine, Red Onions and a little raita which complements the meat and also cuts through the richness of the tagine. I cook the whole thing in my Le Creuset casserole dish which is one of my all time favourite kitchen toys.

Ingredients : 500g of neck fillet of lamb cut into bite size pieces, 2 onions chopped, 4 garlic cloves crushed, 100g dried apricots chopped, 1tsp ground ginger, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 1tbsp sweet paprika, 1tsp dried chilli flakes, pinch of saffron infused in 3tbsp hot water, 2tbsp honey, tin of chickpeas, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, chopped flat leaf parsley, seasoning, 1tbsp sunflower oil, handful of almond flakes.

1. Pre-heat the oven to 140c/GM3
2. Brown off the mean in a little sunflower oil in dish and set aside.
3. Add onions and garlic to pan and cook until soft.
4. Add the apricots, spices, saffron water, honey and tomatoes and stir thoroughly. Then add the lamb. Season, cover and then place in oven for approximately 2 hours, stirring halfway through.
5. About 15 minutes before serving, stir in chickpeas to tagine.
6. Lightly dry fry the almonds and set aside.
7. To serve, sprinkle the chopped parsley and almonds over the top.

In a similar way to curries, this dish improves by making it in advance, even up to a day. The consistency should be of a thick sauce, almost sticky like a ragu. As the tagine is quite rich, it needs a gutsy wine and I find that a Chilean Carmenere does the job. For four people, the cost per head equates to approx £3.00 plus any side dishes. The saffron probably isn't essential but if you're like me and have been to Thailand where it's as cheap as chips, you had might as well throw it in.