Lamb gently simmered with fennel, almonds, olives, and Moroccan spices.
«Ras-el-hanout» is the complex Moroccan spice blend used in this recipe. It means «head of the shop», because shop owners create their own unique blend, which combines up to 50 ingredients, sometimes including also aphrodisiacs, but most commonly cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, anise, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom, dried flowers, mace, and turmeric.
1.2 kg | lamb's shoulder, boneless, cut into 3-4 cm pieces | ||
1 1/2 | fennels, thinly sliced | 550 g | |
2 | onions, finely chopped | 400 g | |
5 cloves | garlic, finely chopped | ||
2 | carrots, diced | 200 g | |
2 cups | canned tomatoes (diced) | 500 g | |
24 | black olives | 1/2 cup | |
1/4 cup | almonds [optional] | 35 g | |
1/3 cup | raisins | 50 g | |
2 1/2 tbsp | butter, unsalted | 35 g | |
3 tbsp | olive oil | 45 mL | |
2 1/2 cups | beef broth | 625 mL | |
1/2 tsp | ground cumin | 2 g | |
1/2 tsp | curry powder | 2 g | |
1 1/4 tsp | couscous spice (ras-el-hanout) | 4 g | |
4 | bay leaf | 0.4 g | |
1/3 cup | fresh cilantro | 10 g | |
2 1/2 cups | couscous, whole wheat | 400 g | |
1/4 cup | lemon juice, freshly squeezed | 1 1/2 lemon | |
ground pepper to taste [optional] | |||
1 pinch | salt [optional] | 0.2 g |
The traditional tagine cooking dish, with its particular shape, can be replaced by any baking dish or
casserole with a tight-fitting lid.
A mandolin will be useful to thinly slice the fennel.
per 1 serving (510 g)
Amount % Daily Value |
Calories 530 |
Fat 18 g 28 % |
Saturated
6.2 g
32 % |
Cholesterol 90 mg |
Sodium 520 mg 22 % |
Carbohydrate 58 g 19 % |
Fibre 8 g 31 % |
Sugars 8 g |
Net Carbs 50 g |
Protein 34 g |
Vitamin A 44 % |
Vitamin C 33 % |
Calcium 10 % |
Iron 34 % |
Food Group | Exchanges |
---|---|
Starches | 2 ½ |
Fruits | ½ |
Vegetables | 2 |
Meat and Alternatives | 3 |
Fats | 4 ½ |
This dish is very satisfying and worth the effort I think. I had never heard of ras-el-hanout (a couscous spice) so I ended up making a basic concoction of my own from an Internet recipe. It was easy to do. I wouldn't leave this spice out, it definitely added to the complex flavour of this dish. I bought a lamb shoulder with the bone in and cut it up myself and used the bones to make a simple lamb broth (with carrot, celery, parsley, thyme, bay leaf garlic, and onion ), which I then substituted for the beef broth. This added much more prep time to the original recipe. I suppose if you ask a butcher to do the hacking part for you, and you use a ready-made broth, it could be more worth it. edit: I found ras-el-hanout at Scoops in The Faubourg downtown