Great Moroccan Lamb Dish...and Easy!

In Moroccan cuisine, the word “tajine” refers both to a cooking vessel, and to the stew cooked in it. The vessels are typically made from earthenware, with a domed top so the cooking vapors will condense on the inside and fall back into the dish. It simply has to be seasoned by first soaking in water, then filling with water and heating in the oven.  Then the unglazed areas are rubbed with a little olive oil and it's ready to go!

                I’d been wanting one for a while, and finally my husband got me one as a gift. Quite lovely, it can go right onto the stove top with a diffuser, and I’ve used it several times. I love the way it looks on the table, and in fact have it sitting on a shelf in the kitchen when I'm not using it, so all my friends can admire and covet it.

                Recently we had out of town guests coming and I wanted something interesting that wouldn’t take a lot of time.  Going through my files, I found one for a lamb meatball tajine that had those qualities.

                I served it with rice, but a more typical side dish would be couscous. You can find a pre-seasoned mix for that in any grocery, and it would cut down on prep time, since it’s ready in about five minutes. With a salad and some crusty bread for sopping up the juices, you can have a great meal for your guests in about 45 minutes.

Moroccan Lamb Meatball Tajine

Meatballs:

2 lbs. ground lamb

2 large onions, very finely chopped, divided

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cardamom

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

Stew:

¼ cup vegetable oil

3 tbsp. peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger

1 jalapeño pepper, seeds and veins removed, very finely chopped

1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, finely chopped

Juice and finely grated zest of two large lemons

2 cups beef stock

2 lemons, washed and quartered, for garnish

Additional cilantro leaves, for garnish.

                Preheat oven to 350^o. Mix the lamb, half the onion and remaining meatball ingredients together well.  Form into 1” balls and place in one layer on a foil-lined baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes. Reserve.

                Meanwhile, in your cooking pan of choice, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the remaining onion, the ginger and the jalapeño and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and zest and the beef stock.  Season lightly with salt. Add the meatballs carefully, with any juices that have accumulated on the baking pan. Bring just barely to a simmer.  Lower the heat a bit, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.  Serve garnished with cilantro and lemon quarters. Serves 6 to 8.

NOTE #1:  If you don’t have a tajine (and most people probably don’t), a heavy lidded Dutch oven would work equally well.

Note #2: If you like a spicier dish, leave the seeds and veins in the pepper. If you have an asbestos palate, use two or more jalapeño peppers.

 Note #3: This reheats beautifully so if you like, you can make it a day ahead.

Tunisian Inspired Pizza

Still working on emptying my freezer, I had taken a pound of ground lamb out, thinking we’d have grilled lamb-burgers for dinner. But we were out and about during the day and had burgers for lunch, so I needed to come up with something else.

Thinking of Tunisia, the country honored by this year’s Memphis in May Festival, I first thought I’d make some sort of pasta sauce, with North African flavors. I wound up, however, using another freezer find, a precooked pizza crust. And the results were delicious.

The recipe makes enough topping for two 12" crusts. If you only want to make one, the leftovers would freeze nicely for another time. Or you could do what I did: I used it to fill rounds of pie crust to make turnovers. I made little ones for appetizers, put them on a cookie sheet and froze them, then put them into plastic freezer bags. They bake quite nicely from frozen. Bigger ones would make an easy supper with a green salad.

TUNISIAN LAMB PIZZA

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 lb. ground lamb
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes (I prefer the fire roasted variety)
¼ cup golden raisins
1 tbsp. sugar
Finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
2 12" pre-baked pizza crusts
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 tbsp. fresh mint, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft, about five minutes. Add spices and stir a couple of times. Add the lamb and cook until no pink remains, breaking up clumps with a wooden spoon. Add the tomatoes, raisins and sugar, and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread half the mixture on each pizza crust. Sprinkle each with half the feta, then the mozzarella, then the pine nuts. Place on a baking sheet and bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the fresh mint and serve at once.

Curried Lamb Ragout

I love lamb, but I have friends who don’t. Or at least they think they don’t. Recently I asked a friend if he liked lamb and the response was a semi-doubtful “Sure, I guess so.”

I had been to the grocery and found lamb stew meat on sale and snapped it up. Then the question of how to cook it arose. I had seen a recipe for an Indian lamb and lentil recipe. It had a long list of spices involved, but I thought I could do quite well with a good commercial curry powder.

I’ve been on a butternut squash kick lately, so that had to go in, and I used canned black beans instead of lentils.

Many Indian dishes are served here with garnishes such as toasted coconut, minced cilantro, raisins or a sweet fruit chutney. I used an almost-green banana to make a rather unique chutney that perfectly complemented the dish. We all wished we’d had more of it, so I’ve doubled it.

When I first made it, it was a bit too soupy for my taste, so I’ve cut down on the liquid. The result is a nice stew consistency. I served it with grilled pita wedges (instead of Indian naan bread) and a salad.

This will make a great dish for company or family. And my doubtful friend? He loved it!

CURRIED LAMB, BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND BLACK BEAN RAGOUT

2 lbs lamb stew meat
4 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder (see note)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
1 small (about 3 pounds) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1” cubes
2 16- to 20-ounce cans black beans, not rinsed or drained
2 bananas, very firm, almost green
Juice and zest of two limes
1 bunch cilantro
1 small jalapeño pepper, finely minced (optional)

Put the lamb, stock and bay leaves in a large non-reactive sauce pan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lamb is almost tender, about 45 minutes.

While the lamb is cooking, in a medium skillet heat the butter and add the garlic. Stir a couple of times, then add the onion and sauté just until translucent. Add the curry powder and cardamom (if using) and stir a couple of minutes. Scrape this into the lamb mixture, add the butternut squash and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the black beans and cook until lamb is completely done and the butternut squash is cooked through but still firm, about 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, peel the bananas and cut them in half lengthwise. Slice crosswise about ¼” thick. Toss with the lime juice and zest. Add 3 tablespoons minced cilantro. If you like spicy foods, add the jalapeño pepper.

When ready to serve, ladle the ragout into flat soup plates, garnish with the banana mixture and additional whole cilantro leaves. Serves 6 generously.

NOTES: Whether to use hot or mild curry powder is your choice. I used mild, but I’m a bit of a wimp about hot foods, and found the jalapeño in the chutney to give just enough heat for my taste.