Tender Lamb and Chickpea Tagine

This aromatic tagine is the perfect make-ahead meal. It will keep in the fridge for three or four days, with the flavour improving every day, and freezes well. I like to brown the lamb shanks before adding them to this tagine so they release their fat, but if you can’t be bothered just skip this step and scoop off the fat before serving.

Prep time 20 mins
Cook time about 3½ hours
Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 6 lamb shanks
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ -1 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
  • salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp Kickstarter Chilli Paste or 2-3 tsp finely chopped long red chilli or harissa, to taste
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 cup dried apricots
  • 3 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • ¼ cup coriander leaves, to serve

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 200˚C fanbake. Place lamb shanks in a bowl or paper bag with the cumin, coriander, cinnamon, oregano, cayenne, salt and pepper and mix or shake to coat. Spread lamb shanks out on a roasting dish, drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and roast until they are browned and have released their fat (40-45 minutes).
  2. While lamb is cooking, heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in a large pot and cook onions and garlic until slightly softened (about 5 minutes). Add Kickstarter Chilli Paste, chilli or harissa and sizzle for 1 minute. Mix in stock, apricots and chickpeas and bring to a simmer.
  3. Remove lamb from oven and reduce oven temperature to 160°C. Drain fat from roasting dish and discard. Add a little chickpea sauce to the roasting dish, stirring to lift pan brownings, then pour in the rest of the chickpea sauce. Cover tightly and bake until lamb is tender (2½-3 hours). Adjust seasonings to taste, drizzle with lemon juice and garnish with coriander to serve.

This recipe is from new TV series Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook: Through the Seasons. For more great Annabel Langbein recipes see annabel-langbein.com