Marrakesh Express

I've wanted to try and make a Morrocan lamb dish for ages, so when I came across a recipe by Jamie Oliver, I knew I had to try it, and with some tweaking and additions, I came up with this wonderfully exotic stew.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

3 teaspoons dried chillies

a small bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped

2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

2 dessert spoons of runny honey

500g cubed lamb (neck or shoulder)

mixture of new potatoes, carrots and butternut squash cut into small chunks

2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

1 tin of plum tomatoes

1 tsp cinnamon

2 bay leaves

a handful of dried apricots

1 tin chickpeas

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Pound up your cumin, coriander and fennel seeds with the dried chillies, rosemary, ginger and a pinch of salt and pepper, stirring in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of dessert spoonfuls of honey. Spoon half of this marinade over your lamb, then put the meat to one side while you mix the rest of the marinade in a bowl with the potatoes, carrots, squash, onions and garlic.

Brown your marinaded pieces of meat on both sides in a pan with a little olive oil. Add the vegetable mixture to the pan and remove the lamb to the empty bowl while you fry your veg for about 4 minutes until the onions are slightly soft. Add your tomatoes, give the pan a shake and place the meat on top. Add 3 wineglasses of water, the cinnamon, bay leaves, dried apricots and the tin of chickpeas. Decant into an ovenproof dish and braise in the preheated oven (I suggest you do this uncovered to give it a little colour) for approximately 2 and a half hours.

Serve with fluffy couscous.