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Moroccan Lamb Stew

Published on August 7, 2014 • Last updated January 28, 2019 by Elizabeth Atia
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Moroccan Lamb Stew by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

People who meal plan baffle me. I’m far too spontaneous for that, I was telling my husband yesterday. I couldn’t bear knowing in advance what I was going to be eating every day of the week. What if I didn’t fancy having what I’d organized on the day I’d planned it for – how dreadful would that be!? Eating is weather-dependant, mood-dependant and most certainly depends on what food is available at the time.

I suppose I’m rather spoilt, somewhat. We get a veg box delivered every week. When I say delivered I mean it’s dropped off at a bus shelter in a top-secret location midway between the croft the produce is grown on and our house. I have to nip down the road to fetch it. I’ve asked for whatever happens to be ready at the time to get put in the box. No requests, no refusals, the more unusual the better. I like the surprise, the not knowing what we’re going to be eating that week. Every veg box is like Christmas morning! Meal planning, to me, is like knowing what’s in each and every one of your presents before you open them. Where is the fun in that?

Our last veg box contained chard, spinach, green beans, that weird fractal cauliflower/broccoli thing, regular broccoli, regular cauliflower, green pepper, a cucumber, green peas (always eaten raw like sweeties), mixed salad, fresh coriander, spring onions, a half dozen free range eggs, two punnets of gorgeous soft fruits (which the children promptly devoured as soon as my back was turned – honestly, I’m going to need to padlock the fridge to keep my fruit-mad children away from the next lot!) and a brown paper bag of freshly picked broad beans.

Broad beans were introduced to my diet some years ago after I’d received a chicken cookery book through the post – some sort of junk mail scheme designed to get you to buy the rest of the books (I never subscribed) but I did try their Moroccan chicken tagine recipe.

Shelling Broad Beans by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary

That recipe was the first one I ever made requiring broad beans, but it called for frozen broad beans which I managed to source in my local supermarket.

They were awful; chewy, hard, flavourless. I never bought a second bag and was put off the notion of broad beans forever.

That was until my veg boxes started appearing last year containing fresh broad beans. I confess to inwardly groaning when I first spotted them but what a completely different experience they are to the frozen ones! These giant pale green beans are encased in a huge pod, but to get at the little bright green beans hidden even further inside you need to blanch them and shell them again. My children love double shelling broad beans and it keeps them entertained for at least ten minutes. Win!

So back to spontaneous cooking – this time of year all of our veg comes from our veg box supplier and I tend to buy whatever meat I can find at a reasonable price. No plan; just what ever is affordably priced. I’d picked up some diced British lamb for a whopping £2-12 the last time I went to the shop and popped it into the deep freeze for later use.

The morning I made this meal I defrosted the lamb with no idea what I was going to do with it. Come 4 pm I had a quick scour of the fridge contents filled with lovely veg box produce and decided on a Moroccan lamb stew. Loosely based on both the chicken tagine I mentioned earlier and a Moroccan lamb stew recipe in Jo Pratt’s Madhouse Cookbook (2013)  I concocted my own take on the warmly spiced dish.

They key is to use freshly toasted spices. Dried spices have been ground up and sitting in a jar for goodness knows how long, but toasting whole herbs and grinding them yourself imparts a wonderful depth of flavour to a dish. Honestly – try it, you’ll never buy ground again.

The lamb stew was rather nice indeed. There were no leftovers. Husband suggested I should blog it. 🙂

Moroccan Lamb Stew

A mildly spiced Moroccan-styled lamb stew - ideal for the whole family.
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 2 adults and 2 children
Author: Elizabeth

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 300 grams lamb diced
  • 1 tsp whole coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 400 gram tinned chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • pinch saffron threads optional
  • 100 ml lamb stock
  • 75 grams sultanas or chopped apricots or dates
  • fresh broad beans
  • Shetland sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • fresh coriander leaves to serve
  • couscous to serve
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Instructions 

  • Peel onion and chop in half. Finely slice one half into half-moons and dice the other half.
  • Heat oil in a large sauté pan over a medium-high heat and gently cook the onions until they begin to soften, about five minutes.
  • Add the diced lamb and brown on all sides.
  • Meanwhile, toast your coriander and cumin seeds until the cumin starts to pop. Grind in a mortar and pestle.
  • Add the toasted, ground spices to the sauté pan along with the paprika and cinnamon. Stir until well combined, allowing the spices to coat the meat and release their fragrance.
  • Add the tin of tomatoes, tomato purée, saffron threads and the lamb stock.
  • Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to medium low, pop the lid on the pan and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, remove the broad beans from their pods. Cook them for four minutes in boiling water and then drain and plunge them into a waiting bowl of cold water. The bright green beans can then be removed from their skins.
  • Add the sultanas and broad beans to the sauté pan and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, until the lamb is tender.
  • Serve with couscous and plenty of fresh coriander leaves.

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MORE LAMB RECIPES
Moroccan-inspired Slow Cooked Lamb (for the crock pot) by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Nigel Slater’s Slow Cooked Lamb by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Leftover Lamb Curry with Mushrooms by Dinner with Crayons

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Category: Lamb, Recipe

About Elizabeth Atia

Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Martina Evans

    October 15, 2015 at 2:06 pm

    I love Moroccan food, their meals are so flavoursome! I would just love to make this for dinner at my house. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply
  2. Paul Wilson

    September 24, 2015 at 12:04 am

    Must try more North African dishes, they look delicious.

    Reply
  3. Ursula Hunt

    April 27, 2015 at 10:46 am

    I was right everyone loved it at the weekend

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      April 27, 2015 at 1:10 pm

      fantastic! Delighted to hear! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Ursula Hunt

    April 17, 2015 at 10:47 am

    Great recipe, this would go down a treat in our house

    Reply
  5. Kate Cass

    April 4, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    Oooh my hubby loves lamb and is slowly developing a taste for spicy foods, he’s slowly increasing heat and variety, so I will definitely be giving this a go because I adore spicy food! Ty!

    Reply
  6. Maya Russell

    March 24, 2015 at 8:43 am

    I can’t meal plan either!
    Love this recipe – lovely & warming.

    Reply
  7. rebecca nisbet

    September 25, 2014 at 7:13 am

    love morrocon food, so many flavours, love using my tangine makes things taste alot more delicious.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      September 25, 2014 at 10:25 am

      I need to invest in a tagine. I’ve never used one before but I’ve heard such good things about them.

      Reply
  8. jackie chapman

    September 13, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    I also meal plan it is the way forward 🙂 this recipe looks fab. Lamb is my favourite meat but I generally stick to Turkish recipes. I’ll be going Morrocan next time we have lamb.

    Reply
  9. Kim W

    September 1, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    the strawberry creams…mmm…

    Reply
  10. Heather Haigh

    August 23, 2014 at 9:59 am

    Sounds lovely. Have some diced lamb to cook for tonight – no broad beans though so it will have to be with aubergine – which are lovely and cheap right now. I adore fresh broad beans – I often grow them – missed them this year- they are lovely fresh from the garden. Easy to grow too. Yes – you’ve talked me into it – I’ll grown some again next year then come and dig this recipe out. 🙂

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 23, 2014 at 10:48 am

      Ooh I think this would be lovely with aubergine – let me know how you get on! 🙂

      Reply
      • Heather Haigh

        August 26, 2014 at 8:20 am

        Made it with the aubergine and it was very nice. I love your flavours.

        Reply
        • Elizabeth

          August 26, 2014 at 8:26 am

          Yay! Oh that’s so good to hear 🙂

          Reply
  11. Heather Haigh

    August 20, 2014 at 8:59 am

    This sounds right up my street – have it bookmarked for later. I’m glad I’m not the only one who isn’t a huge fan of meal planning – not only does it take the joy our of deciding what to cook – according to my mood, the weather, who’s turned up etc, but it means I can’t take advantage of any last minute bargains at the local shop – often my impetus for a meal. I did try a veg box but having it delivered at 4 am put my off!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 20, 2014 at 9:36 am

      a 4 am delivery?? I can’t see that being a viable business strategy – goodness me! Glad to hear I’m not alone with the meal planning thing. 🙂

      Reply
      • Heather Haigh

        August 23, 2014 at 10:01 am

        I think it’s local farmers who do the delivery runs, and they do offer to leave it in a convenient place. Unfortunately they can’t get to a convenient place at ours to drop it off without waking us up.

        Reply
        • Elizabeth

          August 23, 2014 at 10:48 am

          Oh that’s a shame!

          Reply
  12. rebecca nisbet

    August 19, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    wow, this sound delicious

    Reply
  13. Paul Wilson

    August 15, 2014 at 10:45 pm

    This is on my must-try list when it gets a bit colder.

    Reply
  14. Sus Chalmers

    August 15, 2014 at 6:52 pm

    I love lamb and spice and broad beans so this is going on my to-try list 🙂

    Reply
  15. Colin Faulkner

    August 14, 2014 at 8:31 am

    Looks lovely, going to give Moroccan Lamb Stew a try

    Reply
  16. Jan Bennett @GlugofOil

    August 13, 2014 at 12:59 pm

    Oooh now this is my kind of food – that looks sooooo good – I now want this for dinner!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 13, 2014 at 1:02 pm

      It was rather scrummy! 🙂 Fresh broad beans are the best.

      Reply
  17. Vohn McGuinness

    August 11, 2014 at 9:38 am

    This dish looks heavenly Elizabeth and perfect for colder days. I agree with you completely – who can meal plan when you don’t know how you’ll feel, what the weather will be, etc? Last week was hot and this would have been the last thing I’d have wanted. This week is cold and wet and windy – definitely time for some spicy stews! 🙂

    Reply
  18. Kate - gluten free alchemist

    August 9, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    Your husband is a wise man and your children have been brought by angels (fruit mad?!). This dish looks divine and the pictures are really selling it to me (great photography!). I’ve never meal planned in my life……

    Reply
  19. Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy

    August 8, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    We do meal plan as it saves us a lot of money. We go shopping and buy what is reduced and on offer and then plan our meals for the week around that. It also helps me to keep the 7st off that I lost. Spontaneous meals tend to not be the healthiest for me.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 8, 2014 at 2:32 pm

      That kind of meal planning makes sense to me. Using what’s affordable on offer and then planning makes perfect sense, but planning out a week and then buying the ingredients needed doesn’t. I can see how your way would way saves a lot of money (we do that too!) 🙂

      Reply
  20. Emma | Fork and Good

    August 8, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    I’m afraid I’m with you, I make what i’m in the mood for / what I have available. I don’t have the patience to meal plan It is always full of veggies and good stuff though! Love shelling broad beans, glad you have found a love for them because they really are awesome!

    Reply
  21. Helene @Croque-Maman

    August 8, 2014 at 11:06 am

    I personally combine meal planning with spontaneous cooking. I can’t do only meal planning too. It would take too much out of the fun of cooking :-))) This tajine looks amazing. I’ll add it to my “to try” list. I rarely cook with broad beans and I need to experiment! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 8, 2014 at 11:27 am

      I suppose if I combined the two I wouldn’t end up with those “I’m staring into the fridge at half past four in the afternoon with no idea what I am going to feed my family” moments! Fresh broad beans are amazing – more experimentation is definitely required!

      Reply
  22. Holly Nelson

    August 8, 2014 at 1:27 am

    I do meal plan and I don’t. I like to ensure that all food groups are covered in our diets by the Canada good food guide, so I always have fish on the menu twice a week or ensure there is some dairy etc etc. But outside of that I like to look through recipes to see what I fancy cooking!

    Reply
  23. Keep Calm and Fanny On

    August 7, 2014 at 11:42 am

    I’m with you, never meal plan! Like your kids, I also love shelling Broad Beans – I could eat them all the time, love them!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth

      August 7, 2014 at 11:59 am

      Yay! So glad to hear I’m not alone with the meal planning. SO many people do it! Fresh broad beans are something amazing, aren’t they 🙂

      Reply

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About Elizabeth

Adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Loves bikes. Calls Shetland home. Read More…

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“Every day is another chance to get stronger, to eat better, to live healthier, and to be the best version of you.”

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