Lamb Tagine with Saffron, Tomatoes and Dates

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Soft, melt in the mouth cubes of lamb served in a spicy, sweet, saffron tomato sauce with crispy pistachios and parsley, this Lamb Tagine with Saffron, Tomatoes and Dates, served with herbed couscous, is the ultimate Middle Eastern comfort food.

Where is this recipe from?

This Marcus Wareing recipe, which I first saw on Tanya’s website, Menu Mistress, is guaranteed to be a regular feature in our menu rotation. Quick and easy to make, bursting with flavour and incredibly comforting, the lamb is marinated for up to 48 hours in an intoxicating mix of spices including cinnamon, turmeric, paprika and cayenne pepper. The meat is then sealed and cooked in a tomato sauce which is loaded with flavour from onions, garlic, ginger and saffron and sweetened with dates and sultanas.

You are going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this dish. You can prepare, cook and eat it straight away, or you can cook it in advance and warm it up as and when you want it. Letting the tagine sit before eating, ensures the flavours have even more time to infuse and the meat is guaranteed to fall apart as you eat it.

Menu Mistress

Tanya, from Menu Mistress, shares delicious savoury and sweet recipes, as well as cocktails, which she has tried and tested from her very extensive range of cookery books. You should take a look at her site, it is a real gem.

Perfect served with rice pudding for dessert:

The original recipe recommends cooking the tagine at at Fan Oven 150°C/170°C/325°F/Gas 3 for 2½ hours. I cook mine at Fan Oven 130°C/150°C/300°F/Gas 2 for 3 – 3½ and pop a rice pudding in the oven alongside to have for dessert – it makes a wonderful end to the meal. See here for my fabulous rice pudding recipe.

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How to make Lamb Tagine with Saffron, Tomatoes and Dates

Collect all your ingredients together:

For the Lamb and Marinade –

• diced neck or shoulder of lamb
• groundnut, vegetable or olive oil
• ground black pepper
• turmeric powder
• ground cinnamon
• paprika
• cayenne pepper

For the rest of the tagine –

• saffron strands, soaked in warm water
• vegetable oil
• onion, peeled and finely chopped
• garlic cloves, peeled and crushed or finely chopped
• fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped
• passata or tinned chopped tomatoes
• chicken stock
• dried dates, halved
• golden sultanas
• pistachio nuts, chopped
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

• chopped fresh mint, chopped, to serve
• couscous or rice
• natural yoghurt or labneh

How to make this fabulous tagine:

Marinate the lamb –

1. Up to 48 hours before you cook the tagine, marinate the lamb. Add the oil to the spices and mix well.
2. Stir in the lamb. Cover and marinate, ideally for 48 hours, in the fridge.

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Now make the tagine –

1. Pour the warm water over the saffron and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a casserole dish, over a moderate heat, and cook the finely chopped onions for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the finely chopped garlic and ginger for the final 2 minutes of cooking. (I chop everything in my food processor.)
3. As the onions cook, heat half the remaining oil in a separate frying pan and brown the lamb in batches, adding more oil as necessary. Set aside.
4. Add half the stock to the frying pan to deglaze the pan.
5. When the onions, garlic and ginger are soft and lightly caramelised, add the remaining stock and deglaze the casserole dish.
6. Add the lamb, the stock from the frying pan, the tomatoes, dates, sultanas, saffron and water and seasoning to the casserole and bring to a gentle simmer.
7. Transfer to a preheated oven and cook on low for 3 – 3½ hours or until the lamb is ‘fall-apart’ tender.
8. At the same time, scatter the pistachios onto a baking tray and cook in the oven, alongside the lamb for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
9. Serve sprinkled with the chopped, fresh mint, chopped pistachios, couscous or rice, and I like some yoghurt or labneh on the side as well.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.