Authentic Moroccan Beef Tagine Recipes

BEEF TAGINE

Steps:

• Mix all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper.
• Put the beef into a large bowl, massage it with the spice rub, then cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for a couple of hours, preferably overnight.
• When you're ready to cook, peel and finely chop the onion, and pick the coriander leaves, finely chopping the stalks.
• Heat a generous lug of oil in a tagine or casserole pan over a medium heat, add the meat and fry for 5 minutes to seal. Add the onion and coriander stalks and fry for a further 5 minutes.
• Drain and tip in the chickpeas, followed by the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon, then pour in 400ml of stock and stir well. Bring to the boil, then cover and reduce to a low heat for 1½ hours.
• Meanwhile, deseed and chop the squash into 5cm chunks, then destone and roughly tear the prunes. Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until lightly golden, then tip into a bowl.
• When the time's up, add the squash, prunes and remaining stock. Give everything a gentle stir, then pop the lid back on and continue cooking for another 1½ hours. Keep an eye on it, adding splashes of water, if needed.
• At this stage, remove the lid and check the consistency. If it seems a bit too runny, simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, more with the lid off - the beef should be really tender and flaking apart now, so have a taste and season to taste.
• Scatter the coriander leaves over the tagine along with the toasted almonds. Serve with a big bowl of lightly seasoned couscous and dive in.

MOROCCAN BEEF TAGINE

Steps:

• Cook the ground beef, onions and carrots in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, breaking the beef apart as it cooks, until the beef is cooked, before draining off and excess grease.
• Add the garlic, ginger, paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne, and tomato paste, and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
• Add the broth, dates, apricots, raisins, olives, preserved lemon, honey, harissa and saffron, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes.
• Server garnished with almonds, cilantro and parsley.

MOROCCAN LAMB TAGINE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a very large (12-to-13-inch) pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset. Pat the lamb shanks dry with paper towels. In batches, add the lamb shanks to the pot and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side, until they are nicely browned. Transfer to a plate and brown the remaining shanks, adding a little more oil, if necessary. Transfer all the shanks to the plate and set aside.
• Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding more oil, if necessary. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for just 30 seconds. Add the chili powder, turmeric, cumin, cardamom and cinnamon and cook for one minute. Stir in the tomatoes and their liquid, the chicken stock, brown sugar, lime, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add the potatoes, butternut squash and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Place the lamb shanks in the pot, spooning some of the sauce and vegetables over the shanks. (They will not be completely submerged.) Cover the pot and bake for 3 hours, until the lamb shanks are very tender. Serve hot with couscous.

FRAGRANT MOROCCAN BEEF, DATE, HONEY AND PRUNE TAGINE - CROCK POT

Steps:

• Par-boil the carrots in boiling water for about 3 -5 minutes.
• Preheat the electric Tagine or crock pot to High.
• Heat up half of the olive oil in a large frying pan and quickly brown the onion quarters over a fairly high heat until charred & coloured well. Tip them into the crock pot.
• Add the chopped garlic & par-boiled carrots to the onions in the crock pot.
• Make up 1/2 pint of stock with a beef stock cube. Add the honey to the the stock & ALL the dried spices. Tip the honey & spiced stock into the crock pot & mix well. Add the cinnamon stick.
• Add the tinned tomatoes, dates & prunes to the crock pot - mix well.
• Heat up the remaining olive oil and brown the beef cubes in small batches to sear & seal them. As you finish browning them, add the beef to the crock pot.
• When you have finished browning all the beef, give the whole mixture a good stir & season with salt & pepper.
• Cook on high for between 6 & 10 hours depending on your crock pot's wattage & settings.
• Serve the beef tagine with fluffy couscous and garnish with the chopped fresh coriander & toasted flaked almonds. It also works well with rice too.
• P.S. Watch out for the cinnamon stick! We sometimes award the lucky winner of the cinnamon stick with an extra glass of wine!
• P.P.S. You can use dates & prunes which have not been pitted, they do tend to hold their shape better too, just warn your guests that they must look out for the stones!

MOROCCAN TAGINE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Add the lamb meat to the pan, and fry until just browned on the outside. Season with cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Pour just enough water into the pot to cover the meat. Cover, and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is tender and the mixture is stew-like. Displace lid a little after an hour if there appears to be too much liquid.
• Add the pears, golden raisins and almonds to the stew, and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the pears are soft. Serve with rice.

MOROCCAN BEEF MEATBALL TAGINE

Steps:

• For meatballs:
• Line large rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Gently mix all ingredients in large bowl. Using moistened hands and scant 2 tablespoonfuls for each, roll meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs. Arrange meatballs on sheet.
• For stew:
• Heat oil in heavy large ovenproof pot over medium heat. Add onions; sauté about 15 minutes. Add garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, and saffron; stir 2 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes with juice, and raisins.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring stew to simmer. Stir in carrots. Carefully add meatballs to stew; gently press into liquid to submerge. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro over. Cover pot; place in oven. Bake until meatballs are cooked through and carrots are tender, about 35 minutes. Sprinkle spinach over stew. Cover and bake until spinach wilts, about 5 minutes longer. Gently stir to mix in spinach, being careful not to break meatballs. Remove cinnamon sticks. Season tagine with salt and pepper. Spoon couscous into bowls; top with tagine. Garnish with cilantro and lemons.
• Available in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets and at Asian markets.

MOROCCAN BEEF AND HONEY TAGINE

Steps:

• Heat half the olive oil in a large pan or wok and quickly brown the onion quarters over a high heat until charred and coloured well. (Break them up as you're doing this.).
• Add the carrots and the chopped garlic and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Tip carrots and onions into the tagine (or crock pot).
• Add the tinned tomatoes, dates and prunes to the tagine/crock pot and mix well.
• Add the honey and ras el hanout to the beef stock, stir well and add to the tagine/crock pot. Mix well, then add the cinnamon stick.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in the same pan in which the onions were cooked and cook the beef cubes in small batches over high heat to sear and seal them. As each batch is browned, add the beef to the tagine or crock pot.
• When all the beef is browned and in the tagine or crock pot, season with salt and pepper to taste. Ensure everything is just covered with the stock (if not add a little water). Mix well and slow cook for about 9 hours.
• When ready to serve, garnish with fresh coriander and toasted almonds.
• Serve on fluffy cous cous.