Winter has arrived in UK with snow and gales in the North,  & cold grey skies & squally showers in London. This weather calls for something vibrant & comforting. I had a fabulous foodie holiday in Marrakesh this year and wanted to use some of the spices and preserved lemons I  bought in the Spice Souk. The smells from the kitchen evoke the sumptuous tastes of this trip & Moroccan inspired recipe.  I use a lamb shoulder on the bone to cook slowly but you can alternately use cubed lamb and reduce the cooking time by 1 hour.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 kg/ 2.2lb lamb shoulder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp of saffron strands

2 tsp sweet paprika

2 tsp hot paprika

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 teasp Ras El Hanout

Freshly ground sea salt & black pepper

300g/ 10 oz dried apricots

2 x 400g/ 14 oz tinned chopped tomatoes

3 onions chopped

4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

750 ml/ 25 fl oz vegetable or lamb stock

2 tblsp runny honey

2 small preserved lemons, flesh discarded, rind shredded

3 tblsp fresh coriander/ cilantro roughly chopped

3 tblsp fresh mint leaves roughly chopped

Method:

Mix 1 teaspoon each of cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, sweet & hot paprika & Ras El  Hanout & coat the lamb and rub in. Leave in the fridge for at least 4 hours and ideally overnight.

When ready to cook heat the oven to 145C/293F Fan oven. In a deep casserole dish  heat the olive oil on a medium heat and brown the lamb for a few minutes on each side. Remove and then in the same pan add the onion, garlic and the remaining spices on a low heat for 10 minutes stirring regularly to ensure softened but that the spices don’t burn. Add the apricots, honey, stock,  tomatoes, saffron and lamb. Bring to the boil & season with sea salt & black pepper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 3 1/2  hours.

Remove the lamb and cut into rough chunks. Add the preserved lemon rind, coriander/ cilantro and mint to the sauce. Serve with some steamed couscous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Moroccan Lamb Stew with Spices from the Souk.

A Winter warmer evoking sumptuous sights, sounds &  tastes of Morocco.