Lamb Tagine-Style

I say "tagine-style" because I made it in a Dutch oven and, like paella, tagine means both the cooking vessel and the dish. I actually have a tagine, but it only holds enough for two people and I was cooking for three a few nights ago.

I started by browning off lamb stew meat seasoned with salt and pepper. Then I threw in diced onions and a couple garlic cloves (whole but a bit smashed). When the onions started to turn translucent I added about 2.5 tbsp of ras el hanout, a North African spice blend. Mine contains paprika, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, cardamom, allspice, mace, white pepper, rosebuds, nutmeg, cloves, saffron, and bay leaves. It's commonly used in tagines. I toasted the ras el hanout a bit then I added cut carrots and potatoes and a can of diced tomatoes. Tomatoes are sometimes used in traditional tagine recipes, but carrots and potatoes are not so my recipe's more along the lines of an Irish lamb stew or something. Anyway, I poured in about half a container of unsalted vegetable stock, stirred it, and let it simmer for nearly four hours. It would have been fine to eat after two though. Until I served it I kept checking the seasoning, occasionally adding salt and pepper. Ta da!

Next time I want to try this Paula Wolfert recipe.

Tagines are pretty simple because they're really hard to screw up. You just add all the ingredients and basically forget about it except for the occasional stir. And you clearly don't need a tagine to make one, though they are beautiful!