Moroccan lamb tagine and couscous
Slow cooked meatball recipe
4
Serves
20 mins
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
Recipe author
Sue Hamilton and Dana Alexander
This delicious meatball recipe is inspired by the traditional Moroccan tagine, or slow-cooked stew. Using minced meat instead of shanks more than halves the cooking time. The meat is tender and the sauce is rich and spicy. Look out for Moroccan spice mix at the supermarket or ‘ras el hanout’ at specialty food stores. You can cook this dish equally well in an ovenproof dish covered with tin foil if you do not have a clay tagine.
This delicious meatball recipe is inspired by the traditional Moroccan tagine, or slow-cooked stew. Using minced meat instead of shanks more than halves the cooking time. The meat is tender and the sauce is rich and spicy. Look out for Moroccan spice mix at the supermarket or ‘ras el hanout’ at specialty food stores. You can cook this dish equally well in an ovenproof dish covered with tin foil if you do not have a clay tagine.
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Ingredients
Meatballs
500g Quality Mark lamb mince
2 tsp Moroccan seasoning
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg yolk
beaten
1 Tbsp olive oil
Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion
thinly sliced
1 garlic clove
crushed
2 carrots
peeled and cut diagonally
1 large kūmara
peeled and chopped
200g canned tomatoes
mashed
50g dried apricots
finely chopped
2 Tbsp honey
375ml chicken stock
2 tsp Moroccan seasoning
1 tsp ground allspice
Buttered couscous
250g couscous (cooked)
200ml boiling water
A knob of butter
A pinch of mixed herbs
Method
To Make Tagine
1
In a large bowl, mix together lamb mince, spice mix, breadcrumbs and beaten egg yolk. Get in there and use your hands!
2
Shape meatballs from a tablespoonful of mixture rolled in the palm of your hands.
3
Then roll each ball in flour that you have seasoned with salt and pepper.
4
The flour coating will seal the balls and also help thicken the sauce.
5
Heat oil in a non-stick frying-pan and brown meatballs gently on all sides for 10 minutes.
Start Timer
6
Place in tagine or covered casserole dish and prepare sauce.
7
Preheat oven to 180 °C.
8
For sauce, heat oil in a frying-pan and gently sauté onion and garlic until softened, before adding remaining sauce ingredients.
9
Simmer for 5–10 minutes.
Start Timer
10
Pour sauce over meatballs and cover tagine before baking in a moderate oven for 30 minutes to enable flavours to develop.
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11
Ten minutes before tagine is cooked, put couscous with salt and pepper to taste into a large bowl and stir in boiling water.
12
Cover with a tea towel and leave to soak for 10 minutes.
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13
Add a knob of butter and fresh herbs to taste.
14
Heap couscous directly into tagine and serve at the table.
Nutrition Information per Serving (613g)
This nutrition analysis is based on 4 serves.
Energy
3175kJ (759 kcal)
Protein
36.2g
Total Fat
34.9g
Saturated Fat
11.1g
Carbs
71.7g
Dietary Fibre
8.1g
Sodium
863mg
Iron
3.6mg
Zinc
4.8mg
Vitamin B12
1.7µg
