Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Pine Nuts

[phildemetrion]

Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Pine Nuts

Serves 4 as Main Dish.

This North African dish is a tasty choice as a simple, relatively quick to prepare everyday meal or centerpiece for a dinner party. The word tagine, like casserole, refers to both the cooking utensil and the end product.

• 1/2 c pine nuts
  
• 3 T extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 1-1/2 lb of lamb (deboned leg or shoulder),
  
• chopped in 2-inch pieces
  
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
  
• 2 T ras el hanout couscous spice
  
• 1 c dry white wine
  
• 1 c (or as needed) unsalted chicken or
  
• vegetable broth
  
• 1 tsp tomato paste
  
• 1 c pitted prunes
  

Salt & Pepper

• 
  

Harisa (or other hot sauce)

• 
  

Brown the pine nuts in a moderately-heated tagine (a Moroccan earthenware casserole with a shallow base and a conical cover) or a deep cast-iron frying pan. Do not use any olive oil for this process. Stir constantly to keep the pine nuts from burning. When they are just golden, remove them from the pan & set aside.

Heat the olive oil & brown the lamb pieces in the olive oil, then drain on paper towels & keep aside in a warm place. Sauté the onions in the pan until transluscent.

Return lamb pieces (with any accumulated liquid) to the pan. Sprinkle with ras el hanout and stir to coat the lamb. Add wine and cook uncovered until alcohol evaporates. Add a half cup of broth. Stir in tomato paste to thicken sauce a bit. Cover and cook for thirty minutes on low heat. Add more broth as needed. Add the prunes and pine nuts. Cook another five or ten minutes, until the prunes are rehydrated. Sample the sauce and, if desired, add more ras el hanout, plus salt and fresh gound pepper to taste.

You may accompany the tagine with North African flat bread, couscous and a bowl of couscous vegetables (carrots, zucchini, turnips and chick peas boiled in a vegetable broth flavored with ras el hanout). Make it spicier by adding harisa or other hot sauce to taste.

Keywords: Main Dish, Easy, Lamb, Lunch, Dinner

( RG2117 )