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Lamb, apricot and shallot tagine

Sarah Cook's slow-cooked lamb tagine, adapted from the Moroccan roast lamb dish mechoui, with a Halal leg: marinated overnight in spiced honey and garlic, roasted for hours, then finished with shallots, apricots, almonds and preserved lemon.

Moroccan · Main · Easy · 6 portions · 970 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The tagine is a 2 kg bone-in leg of lamb, which is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, finished with 150 ml chicken stock, which is a chicken product, and served with yogurt, which needs a gelatin check.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Leg of lamb: Lamb is Halal only from a Halal-slaughtered animal, and lamb without a Halal mark doesn't say how the animal was slaughtered. Buy the leg from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
• Chicken stock: Bought chicken stock is a chicken product, and the UK's mainstream stock cubes contain uncertified chicken or meat fat. Use a Halal-certified chicken stock or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.
• Natural yogurt: Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Choose a yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt.

Ingredients

Marinade

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp clear honey
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp coriander seed
• pinch saffron strands

Lamb

• about 2 kg Halal leg of lamb, bone in
• 600 g shallots, halved if large
• 400 g small apricots, halved and stoned
• 85 g whole skinless almonds
• 2 preserved lemons, flesh discarded, peel and pith finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ras el hanout
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 150 ml hot Halal-certified chicken stock, or vegetable stock
• small pack coriander, leaves picked
• to serve couscous and natural yogurt (no gelatine)

Method

1. Marinate the lamb. Slash the lamb all over and put it in a big food bag or a large casserole dish. Smash the marinade ingredients together in a pestle and mortar, add some black pepper and rub all over the lamb. Marinate overnight, or for up to 24 hours.
2. Slow-roast. Heat the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Sit the lamb in a big roasting tin, scraping off any leftover marinade on top. Cover with foil, pinching the edges to seal, and cook for 6 to 7 hours, basting every hour or so, until the meat is very tender.
3. Roast the shallots. Take the tin out and turn the oven up to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Pour the juices into a measuring jug, cool slightly and skim off the fat. Put the shallots in the tin, toss them in some of the juices and roast for 15 minutes.
4. Add the fruit and sauce. Add the apricots and almonds. Whisk the skimmed juices with the preserved lemon, ras el hanout, honey and stock, pour over the lamb and roast for another 20 minutes.
5. Rest and serve. Rest for 10 minutes, then scatter over the coriander and serve with couscous and yogurt.

Allergens

nuts (almonds), milk (yogurt, to serve), gluten (couscous, to serve)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Lamb, apricot & shallot tagine' by Sarah Cook, which says it is adapted from the Moroccan roast lamb dish mechoui (serves 6: a large bone-in leg of lamb of about 2 kg slashed all over and rubbed with a marinade of 4 tbsp olive oil, 4 crushed garlic cloves, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 2 tbsp honey, 2 tsp each ground cinnamon, ground ginger and coriander seed and a pinch of saffron, smashed in a pestle and mortar, plus black pepper, and marinated overnight or up to 24 hours; oven at 140C/120C fan/gas 1, the lamb in a big roasting tin, scraped of excess marinade, sealed under foil and cooked 6 to 7 hours, basting every hour or so; oven up to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, the juices poured off, cooled slightly and skimmed; 600 g shallots tossed in the juices and roasted 15 minutes; 400 g halved small apricots and 85 g whole skinless almonds added; the juices whisked with the chopped peel of 2 preserved lemons, 1 tbsp ras el hanout, 1 tbsp honey and 150 ml hot chicken stock, poured over and roasted 20 minutes more; rested 10 minutes, scattered with a small pack of coriander leaves and served with couscous and natural yogurt). We specified a Halal leg of lamb, a Halal-certified or vegetable stock and a gelatine-free yogurt; the third step is split at its natural break. Nothing else needed changing. The rest time is an overnight marinade, counted as 8 hours, plus the 10-minute rest. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: lamb chops on a grill, not the finished dish from this recipe.