I do enjoy a good tagine; slow cooked tender meat which melts in your mouth with gentle spice coming from ground cumin, coriander & chilli, sweetness from sweet apricots & sweet potato, fragrance from grated lemon zest & freshness provided by a sprinkling of freshly chopped parsley. This recipe uses ground chia seeds & a handful of lentils to help thicken the sauce.

As this takes a long time in the oven to cook, I usually make a second slow-cook dish at the same time or bake some treats to make use of the oven. This dish freezes beautifully, making it ideal for batch cooking.

Preparation time: 25-30mins (most time is taken in trimming the fat off the lamb)

Cooking time: 1 hr 45 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

coconut  spray oil

700g lean lamb with fat trimmed off (lamb steaks, leg neck fillet) all work well

2 red onions

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

2.5 tsp ground coriander

2.5tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chilli flakes or chilli powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional; I am not keen on cinnamon)

1 can (400g) of chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp runny honey

600ml stock. I use boullion powder

350g sweet potatoes chunks (approx. 2.5cm)

60g dried apricots sliced into slithers

4 tbsp ground chia seeds

3 tbsp red lentils

2.5 tsp ground coriander

2.5tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chilli flakes or chilli powder

salt & pepper

To serve: Handful of fresh parsley & grated lemon zest to garnish, blob of Greek yoghurt

Method:

Dice the lamb into approximately 3cm chunks

Preheat the oven to 160ºC.

Brown the lamb, garlic & onions ideally in a casserole dish with a little coconut  spray oil. If  you do not have a casserole dish or cannot accommodate a second one in your oven, a deep oven tray with works with foil covering the top.

Add the spices & stir for a further 2 mins, but do not let the spices burn otherwise they will impart a bitter flavour to this dish.

Add the canned tomatoes, lentils & stock. Stir. Then add the honey & chickpeas. Bring to a boil. Then place the casserole lid/ foil lid back on on & cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Add the sweet potato chunks & apricot slithers. Put back in the oven & cook for a further 35 mins.

Then add the ground chia seeds, mix & cook for a further 10-15 mins until the lamb is very tender & the sauce thickened up.

To serve: with freshly chopped parsley & lemon zest with steamed greens & a blob of Greek yoghurt.

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