Apricot Lamb Tagine, called “Mishmishiya” in Arabic, slowly braises in the oven with cinnamon, cumin and garlic. The recipe results in tender meat with a delicious combination of savory, sweet and spice.
Lamb tagine is one of those dishes that has always sounded appealing, but for some reason I hadn’t gotten around to making…until now. Given how much we all loved this Apricot Lamb Tagine, I will definitely making this again soon!
I got the idea for this dish from the apricot lamb tagine recipe found in The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden (Amazon affiliate link provided to the cookbook). Her version is cooked on the stove top, but I adapted this to slowly braise in the oven. I got some tips on timing and temperature for braising the lamb tagine from this recipe from David Lebovitz. I was very pleased with the results!
Slowly braising the tagine in the oven takes longer, but there’s not a lot of active work once you get it going. Enjoy the delicious smells of lamb and cinnamon slowly cooking as you relax!
This apricot lamb tagine is Moroccan in its flavors but Roden explains it was developed in Paris, one reason why it uses fresh ginger instead of dried, which would be more common in Morocco. The name for the dish “mishmishiya” comes from the Arabic word for apricot, mishmish.
Serve this lamb tagine over couscous and enjoy!
If you liked this recipe, you might also want to try our Beef and Lamb Tagine! And another great lamb recipe is our Slow Cooker Irish Lamb Stew.
Wine Pairing
We found ourselves eating this lamb tagine over a few nights. I’d say I liked it best with the Mas de la Dame Les Baux De Provence Cuvee La Gourmande ($16, 13.5 % ABV). This wine is a blend of 50% Grenache, 50% Syrah. I really enjoyed it and it paired well with the lamb tagine. I didn’t take down tasting notes, so will share Ray’s notes from Pairings Wine and Food, “Full and fine red licorice bouquet, with the same in the mouth plus garrigue flavors.”
Recipe card
Apricot Lamb Tagine (Mishmishiya)
Lamb tagine slowly braises in the oven with cinnamon spice for tender meat, and gets great flavor from the addition of apricots.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours 5 mins
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 mins
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: braising
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cumin tsp
- 2.75 lbs lamb shoulder or leg, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cups water
- 6 ozs dried apricot
- 1 tbsp apricot jam
- 1 14.5 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- salt and pepper to taste
- couscous cooked for serving
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 325 on the convection setting (350 if you use conventional oven setting).
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat on the stove top. Add the onions to the Dutch oven, and cook for a few minutes until it begins to soften. Stir in the cinnamon and cumin.
- Add the other tablespoon of olive oil, then add the lamb, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook the lamb for about 10 minutes to brown, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the garlic and ginger in with the lamb, then add the water. Bring to a simmer, then cover the Dutch oven and transfer to the preheated oven.
- Braise in the oven for 1 hour 45 minutes. Then carefully remove the Dutch oven and uncover. Stir in the dried apricots and the dried apricot jam. Cover the Dutch oven again, and place back in the oven to cook for another hour.
- After 2 hours 45 minutes total cook time, move the Dutch oven to the stove top. Uncover, stir in the chickpeas. Add another ¼ cup water if the cooking liquid has all been absorbed. Heat on the stove top for 10 minutes to let the flavors combine with the chickpeas.
- Serve the lamb tagine over couscous. Enjoy!
Tools to use: Providing an Amazon affiliate link for the Lodge Dutch oven that we use. I would get a percentage of the sale if you choose to purchase using one of these affiliate links. As always, we only share about products we use and recommend based on our experience.
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