Jono & Jules do food & wine

An easy casserole with North African spices and fruit. Suitable for cold nights in as well as entertaining good friends –  which we have been doing lots of due to snow days. Serve with plain couscous or with Golden Couscous and Shirazi salad.

Wine Suggestion: A guest brought over a Roda Sela from Rioja, which had juicy red fruit flavours to complement the spices and a polished, refined finish.

Lamb Tagine – serves 6

• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1-2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 ½ tbsp paprika
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• 1.1kg cubed boneless lamb
• 450g onions
• 3 big cloves of garlic
• ½ tsp salt
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 175g ready-to-eat dried apricots
• 50g sultanas
• 85g toasted flaked almonds
• 1 tbsp honey
• 300ml tomato juice
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 300ml hot lamb stock
• fresh coriander, to serve
• couscous, to serve

Preheat the oven to 170C/Fan 150C/Gas 3.

Mix the spices together in a small bowl.

Put the lamb into a large mixing bowl, then tip in the spices and mix well with your hands.

Peel and grate the onions (you might like to use a food processor if you have one to save your eyes). Peel and chop the garlic, then crush with the salt using the back of your knife.

Put a large frying pan over a high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add a quarter of the lamb cubes and cook until browned all over. Remove with a slotted spoon into a large casserole dish. Brown the rest of the lamb in batches, adding another tablespoon of the oil each time.

When the meat is all browned, turn the heat down to low and add the last tablespoon of oil, then stir in the onions and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes or until softened but not browned.

Add the lamb stock to the onions and stir to scrape any crusty bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour the onions and stock over the lamb, then add the remaining ingredients. Bring the casserole to the boil, then cover and cook in the oven for 2 hours or until the lamb is completely tender.

(Original recipe by Antony Worrall Thompson in BBC Good Food Magazine, January 2001.)