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Lamb Tagine with Sundried Olives & Preserved Lemons for Easter Dinner

Lamb Tagine with Sundried Olives & Preserved Lemons

for Easter Dinner

This is a very simple dish to prepare. I call it my 

lazy wife cooking.  In a bowl season the lamb with a good quality Morrocan Spice *,

Ras El Hanout, sea salt and black pepper.

I then seared large pieces of lamb shoulder in a mixture of

olive oil and butter in a cast iron skillet.

Remove the lamb and then add 2 poblano chilis, cut in strips

one yellow onion sliced, 4 cloves of garlic crushed and one preserved lemon, also cut in strips.

sautee until soft.

Remove from pan and add to the lamb in the tagine pot

deglaze the pan with juice from the preserved lemons

a wee bit of water or stock.

pour over the lamb

scatter the sundried olives

cover and 

bake at 375 degrees F

for a couple of hours until lamb is

tender and falling apart.

lovely with couscous.

*Ras El Hanout

Ras El Hanout is a complex, aromatic Moroccan spice blend. Most recipes include cardamom, nutmeg, anise, mace, cinnamon, ginger, various peppers, and turmeric, but 30 or more ingredients might be used. Typically prepared by grinding together whole spices, dried roots and leaves, this recipe keeps things simple by using ground spices.

Ras El Hanout's literal translation from Arabic is “head of the shop," or the best of the shop."

• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamon
• 2 teaspoons ground mace
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground anise seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves